Works

THE WORKS OF

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

IN FOURTEEN VOLUMES

Illustrated

I

THE ROUGH RIDERS

Jgxecutive ]£dition

PUBLISHED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE
PRESIDENT THROUGH SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
WITH THE CENTURY CO., MESSRS. CHARLES
SCRIBNER'S SONS, AND G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

NEW YORK

P. F. COLLIER & SON, PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT 1899
Bv CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

This edition is published under arrangement with
Charles Scribner's Sons, of New York

ON BEHALF OF THE ROUGH RIDERS

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE

FIVE REGULAR REGIMENTS

WHICH TOGETHER WITH MINE MADE UP THE
CAVALRY DIVISION AT SANTIAGO

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

EXECUTIVE MANSION

ALBANV, N. Y.,

May /, 1899

Hark! I hear the tramp of thousands,

And of armed men the hum ;
Lo! a nation's hosts have gathered
Round the quick-alarming drum —
Saying, "Come,
Freemen, come!
Ere your heritage be wasted," said the quick-alarming drum.

"Let me of my heart take counsel;

War is not of Life the sum ;
Who shall stay and reap the harvest
When the autumn days shall come?"
But the drum
Echoed, "Come!

Death shall reap the braver harvest," said the solemn-sound-
ing drum.

"But when won the coming battle,

What of profit springs therefrom?
What if conquest, subjugation,
Even greater ills become?"
But the drum
Answered, "Come!

You must do the sum to prove it," said the Yankee-answer-
ing drum.

—BRET HARTE

VOL. XI.— A

CONTENTS

1. -RAISING THE REGIMENT 5

II. To CUBA 41

III. GENERAL YOUNG'S FIGHT AT LAS GUASIMAS . . 73

IV. THE CAVALRY AT SANTIAGO 112

V. IN THE TRENCHES 157

VI. THE RETURN HOME 194

APPENDICES:

A. Muster-Out Roll 233

B. Colonel Roosevelt's Report to the Secretary of

War of September loth 282

C. The "Round Robin" Letter 295

D. Corrections 301

THE ROUGH RIDERS

RAISING THE REGIMENT

DURING the year preceding the outbreak of the
Spanish War I was Assistant Secretary of
the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I
had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I pos-
sessed, our duty to intervene in Cuba, and to take
this opportunity of driving the Spaniard from the
Western World. Now that my party had come to
power, I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed,
to do all I could to secure the carrying out of the
policy in which I so heartily believed ; and from the
beginning I had determined that, if a war came,
somehow or other, I was going to the front.

Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at
hand in getting ready the navy, and to this I de-
voted myself.

Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a
certain cause, the tendency is to associate particu-
larly with those who take the same view. A large
number of my friends felt very differently from the
way I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war

(5)

6 The Rough Riders

with sincere horror. But I found plenty of sym-
pathizers, especially in the navy, the army, and the
Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commo-
dore Dewey, Captain Evans, Captain Brownson,
Captain Davis — with these and the various other
naval officers on duty at Washington I used to
hold long consultations, during which we went over
and over, not only every question of naval admin-
istration, but specifically everything necessary to do
in order to put the navy in trim to strike quick and
hard if, as we believed would be the case, we went
to war with Spain. Sending an ample quantity of
ammunition to the Asiatic squadron and providing
it with coal ; getting the battleships and the armored
cruisers on the Atlantic into one squadron, both to
train them in manoeuvring together, and to have
them ready to sail against either the Cuban or the
Spanish coasts; gathering the torpedo-boats into a
flotilla for practice; securing ample target exercise,
so conducted as to raise the standard of our marks-
manship; gathering in the small ships from Euro-
pean and South American waters; settling on the
number and kind of craft needed as auxiliary cruis-
ers— every one of these points was threshed over in
conversations with officers who were present in
Washington, or in correspondence with officers who,
like Captain Mahan, were absent.

As for the Senators, of course Senator Lodge

Raising the Regiment 7

and I felt precisely alike ; for to fight in such a cause
and with such an enemy was merely to carry out
the doctrines we had both of us preached for many
years. Senator Davis, Senator Proctor, Senator
Foraker, Senator Chandler, Senator Morgan, Sena-
tor Frye, and a number of others also took just the
right ground; and I saw a great deal of them, as
well as of many members of the House, particularly
those from the West, where the feeling for war was
strongest.

Naval officers came and went, and Senators were
only in the city while the Senate was in session ; but
there was one friend who was steadily in Washing-
ton. This was an army surgeon, Dr. Leonard
Wood. I only met him after I entered the navy
department, but we soon found that we had kindred
tastes and kindred principles. He had served in
General Miles's inconceivably harassing campaigns
against the Apaches, where he had displayed such
courage that he won that most coveted of distinc-
tions — the Medal of Honor ; such extraordinary
physical strength and endurance that he grew to be
recognized as one of the two or three white men
who could stand fatigue and hardship as well as an
Apache; and such judgment that toward the close
of the campaigns he was given, though a surgeon,
the actual command of more than one expedition
against the bands of renegade Indians. Like so

8 The Rough Riders

many of the gallant fighters with whom it was later
my good fortune to serve, he combined, in a very
high degree, the qualities of entire manliness with
entire uprightness and cleanliness of character. It
was a pleasure to deal with a man of high ideals,
who scorned everything mean and base, and who
also possessed those robust and hardy qualities of
body and mind, for the lack of which no merely neg-
ative virtue can ever atone. He was by nature a
soldier of the highest type, and, like most natural
soldiers, he was, of course, born with a keen long-
ing for adventure; and, though an excellent doctor,
what he really desired was the chance to lead men
in some kind of hazard. To every possibility of
such adventure he paid quick attention. For in-
stance, he had a great desire to get me to go with
him on an expedition into the Klondike in mid-win-
ter, at the time when it was thought that a relief
party would have to be sent there to help the starv-
ing miners.

In the summer he and I took long walks together
through the beautiful broken country surrounding
Washington. In winter we sometimes varied these
walks by kicking a football in an empty lot, or, on
the rare occasions when there was^ enough snow,
by trying a couple of sets of skis or snow-skates,
which had been sent me from Canada.

But always on our way out to and back from these

Raising the Regiment 9

walks and sport, there was one topic to which, in
our talking, we returned, and that was the possible
war with Spain. We both felt very strongly that
such a war would be as righteous as it would be
advantageous to the honor and the interests of the
nation ; and after the blowing up of the Maine, we
felt that it was inevitable. We then at once began
to try to see that we had our share in it. The
President and my own chief, Secretary Long, were
very firm against my going, but they said that if I
was bent upon going they would help me. Wood
was the medical adviser of both the President and
the Secretary of War, and could count upon their
friendship. So we started with the odds in our
favor.

At first we had great difficulty in knowing exactly
what to try for. We could go on the staff of any
one of several Generals, but we much preferred to
go in the line. Wood hoped he might get a com-
mission in his native State of Massachusetts ; but in
Massachusetts, as in every other State, it proved
there were ten men who wanted to go to the war for
every chance to go. Then we thought we might
get positions as field-officers under an old friend of
mine, Colonel — now General — Francis V. Greene,
of New York, the Colonel of the Seventy-first ; but
again there were no vacancies.

Our doubts were resolved when Congress author-

io The Rough Riders

ized the raising of three cavalry regiments from
among the wild riders and riflemen of the Rockies
and the Great Plains. During Wood's service in
the Southwest he had commanded not only regulars
and Indian scouts, but also white frontiersmen. In
the Northwest I had spent much of my time, for
many years, either on my ranch or in long hunting
trips, and had lived and worked for months together
with the cowboy and the mountain hunter, faring in
every way precisely as they did.

Secretary Alger offered me the command of one
of these regiments. If I had taken it, being en-
tirely inexperienced in military work, I should not
have known how to get it equipped most rapidly,
for I should have spent valuable weeks in learning
its needs, with the result that I should have missed
the Santiago campaign, and might not even have
had the consolation prize of going to Porto Rico.
Fortunately, I was wise enough to tell the Secretary
that while I believed I could learn to command the
regiment in a month, yet that it was just this very
month which I could not afford to spare, and that
therefore I would be quite content to go as Lieu-
tenant-Colonel, if he would make Wood Colonel.

This was entirely satisfactory to both the Presi-
dent and Secretary, and, accordingly, Wood and
I were speedily commissioned as Colonel and Lieu-
tenant-Colonel of the First United States Volunteer

Raising the Regiment n

Cavalry. This was the official title of the regiment,
but for some reason or other the public promptly
christened us the "Rough Riders." At first we
fought against the use of the term, but to no pur-
pose ; and when finally the Generals of Division and
Brigade began to write in formal communications
about our regiment as the "Rough Riders," we
adopted the term ourselves.

The mustering-places for the regiment were ap-
pointed in New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, and
Indian Territory. The difficulty in organizing was
not in selecting, but in rejecting men. Within a
day or two after it was announced that we were to
raise the regiment, we were literally deluged with
applications from every quarter of the Union.
Without the slightest trouble, so far as men went,
we could have raised a brigade or even a division.
The difficulty lay in arming, equipping, mounting,
and disciplining the men we selected. Hundreds of
regiments were being called into existence by the
National Government, and each regiment was sure
to have innumerable wants to be satisfied. To a
man who knew the ground as Wood did, and who
was entirely aware of our national unpreparedness,
it was evident that the ordnance and quartermas-
ter's bureaus could not meet, for some time to come,
one-tenth of the demands that would be made upon
them; and it was all-important to get in first with

ii The Rough Riders

our demands. Thanks to his knowledge of the sit-
uation and promptness, we immediately put in our
requisitions for the articles indispensable for the
equipment of the regiment; and then, by ceaseless
worrying of excellent bureaucrats, who had no idea
how to do things quickly or how to meet an emer-
gency, we succeeded in getting our rifles, cartridges,
revolvers, clothing, shelter-tents, and horse gear just
in time to enable us to go on the Santiago expedi-
tion. Some of the State troops, who were already
organized as National Guards, were, of course,
•ready, after a fashion, when the war broke out ; but
no other regiment which had our work to do- was
able to do it in anything like as quick time, and
therefore no other volunteer regiment saw anything
like the fighting which we did.

Wood thoroughly realized what the Ordnance
Department failed to realize, namely, the inestima-
ble advantage of smokeless powder; and, moreover,
he was bent upon our having the weapons of the
regulars, for this meant that we would be brigaded
with them, and it was evident that they would do
the bulk of the fighting if the war were short. Ac-
cordingly, by acting with the utmost vigor and
promptness, he succeeded in getting our regiment
armed with the Krag-Jorgensen carbine used by
the regular cavalry.

It was impossible to take any of the numerous

Raising the Regiment 13

companies which were proffered to us from the
various States. The only organized bodies we were
at liberty to accept were those from the four Terri-
tories. But owing to the fact that the number of
men orginally allotted to us, 780, was speedily raised
to 1,000, we were given a chance to accept quite a
number of eager volunteers who did not come from
the Territories, but who possessed precisely the
same temper that distinguished our Southwestern
recruits, and whose presence materially benefited
the regiment.

We drew recruits from Harvard, Yale, Prince-
ton, and many another college; from clubs like the
Somerset, of Boston, and Knickerbocker, of New
York; and from among the men who belonged
neither to club nor to college, but in whose veins the
blood stirred with the same impulse which once sent
the Vikings over sea. Four of the policemen who
had served under me, while I was President of the
New York Police Board, insisted on coming — two
of them to die, the other two to return unhurt after
honorable and dangerous service. It seemed to me
that almost every friend I had in every State had
some one acquaintance who was bound to go with
the Rough Riders, and for whom I had to make a
place. Thomas Nelson Page, General Fitzhugh Lee,
Congressman Odell of New York, Senator Morgan ;
for each of these, and for many others, I eventually

H The Rough Riders

consented to accept some one or two recruits, of
course only after a most rigid examination into their
physical capacity, and after they had shown that
they knew how to ride and shoot. I 'may add that
in no case was I disappointed in the men thus taken.
Harvard being my own college, I had such a
swarm of applicants from it that I could not take
one in ten. What particularly pleased me, not only
in the Harvard but the Yale and Princeton men, and,
indeed, in these recruits from the older States gen-
erally, was that they did not ask for commissions.
With hardly an exception they entered upon their
duties as troopers in the spirit which they held to the
end, merely endeavoring to show that no work could
be too hard, too disagreeable, or too dangerous for
them to perform, and neither asking nor receiving
any reward in the way of promotion or considera-
tion. The Harvard contingent was practically
raised by Guy Murchie, of Maine. He saw all the
fighting and did his duty with the utmost gallantry,
and then left the service as he had entered it, a
trooper, entirely satisfied to have done his duty —
and no man did it better. So it was with Dudley
Dean, perhaps the best quarterback who ever played
on a Harvard Eleven; and so with Bob Wrenn, a
quarterback whose feats rivalled those of Dean's,
and who, in addition, was the champion tennis player
of America, and had, on two different years, saved

Raising the Regiment 15

this championship from going to an Englishman.
So it was with Yale men like Waller, the high
jumper, and Garrison and Girard ; and with Prince-
ton men like Devereux and Channing, the football
players ; with Lamed, the tennis player ; with Craig
Wadsworth, the steeple-chase rider; with Joe Stev-
ens, the crack polo player ; with Hamilton Fish, the
ex-captain of the Columbia crew, and with scores of
others whose names are quite as worthy of mention
as any of those I have given. Indeed, they all sought
entry into the ranks of the Rough Riders as eagerly
as if it meant something widely different from hard
work, rough fare, and the possibility of death; and
the reason why they turned out to be such good sol-
diers lay largely in the fact that they were men who
had thoroughly counted the cost before entering,
and who went into the regiment because they be-
lieved that this offered their best chance for seeing
hard and dangerous service. Mason Mitchell, of
New York, who had been a chief of scouts in the
Kiel Rebellion, traveled all the way to San Antonio
to enlist; and others came there from distances as
great.

Some of them made appeals to me which I could
not possibly resist. Woodbury Kane had been a
close friend of mine at Harvard. During the eigh-
teen years that had passed since my graduation I
had seen very little of him, though, being always

16 The Rough Riders

interested in sport, I occasionally met him on the
hunting field, had seen him on the deck of the De-
fender when she vanquished the Valkyrie, and knew
the part he had played on the Navajoe, when, in her
most important race, that otherwise unlucky yacht
vanquished her opponent, the Prince of Wales's
Britannia. When the war was on, Kane felt it his
duty to fight for his country. He did not seek any
position of distinction. All he desired was the chance
to do whatever work he was put to do well, and to
get to the front ; and he enlisted as a trooper. When
I went down to the camp at San Antonio he was on
kitchen duty, and was cooking and washing dishes
for one of the New Mexican troops; and he was
doing it so well that I had no further doubt as to
how he would get on.

My friend of many hunts and ranch partner, Rob-
ert Munro Ferguson, of Scotland, who had been on
Lord Aberdeen's staff as a Lieutenant but a year be-
fore, likewise could not keep out of the regiment.
He, too, appealed to me in terms which I could not
withstand, and came in like Kane to do his full duty
as a trooper, and like Kane to win his commission
by the way he thus did his duty.

I felt many qualms at first in allowing men of
this stamp to come in, for I could not be certain that
they had counted the cost, and was afraid they would
find it very hard to serve — not for a few days, but

Raising the Regiment 17

for months — in the ranks, while I, their former inti-
mate associate, was a field-officer; but they insisted
that they knew their minds, and the events showed
that they did. We enlisted about fifty of them from
Virginia, Maryland, and the Northeastern States,
at Washington. Before allowing them to be sworn
in, I gathered them together and explained that if
they went in they must be prepared not merely to
fight, but to perform the weary, monotonous labor
incident to the ordinary routine of a soldier's life;
that they must be ready to face fever exactly as they
were to face bullets; that they were to obey un-
questioningly, and to do their duty as readily if
called upon to garrison a fort as if sent to the front.
I warned them that work that was merely irksome
and disagreeable must be faced as readily as work
that was dangerous, and that no complaint of any
kind must be made ; and I told them that they were
entirely at liberty not to go, but that after they had
once signed there could then be no backing out.

Not a man of them backed out ; not one of them
failed to do his whole duty.

These men formed but a small fraction of the
whole. They went down to San Antonio, where
the regiment was to gather and where Wood pre-
ceded me, while I spent a week in Washington hur-
rying up the different bureaus and telegraphing my
various railroad friends, so as to ensure our getting

1 8 The Rough Riders

the carbines, saddles, and uniforms that we needed
from the various armories and storehouses. Then
I went down to San Antonio myself, where I found
the men from New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma
already gathered, while those from Indian Territory
came in soon after my arrival.

These were the men who made up the bulk of the
regiment, and gave it its peculiar character. They
came from the Four Territories which yet remained
within the boundaries of the United States; that is,
from the lands that have been most recently won
over to white civilization, and in which the condi-
tions of life are nearest those that obtained on the
frontier when there still was a frontier. They were
a splendid set of men, these Southwesterners — tall
and sinewy, with resolute, weather-beaten faces, and
eyes that looked a man straight in the face without
flinching. They included in their ranks men of
every occupation ; but the three types were those of
the cowboy, the hunter, and the mining prospector
— the man who wandered hither and thither, killing
game for a living, and spending his life in the quest
for metal wealth.

In all the world there could be no better material
for soldiers than that afforded by these grim hunters of
the mountains, these wild rough riders of the plains.
They were accustomed to handling wild and savage
horses ; they were accustomed to following the chase

Raising the Regiment 19

with the rifle, both for sport and as a means of live-
lihood. Varied though their occupations had been,
almost all had, at one time or another, herded cattle
and hunted big game. They were hardened to life
in the open, and to shifting for themselves under
adverse circumstances. They were used, for all
their lawless freedom, to the rough discipline of the
round-up and the mining company. Some of them
came from the small frontier towns ; but most were
from the wilderness, having left their lonely hunt-
ers' cabins and shifting cow-camps to seek new and
more stirring adventures beyond the sea.

They had their natural leaders — the men who had
shown they could master other men, and could more
than hold their own in the eager driving life of the
new settlements.

The Captains and Lieutenants were sometimes
men who had campaigned in the regular army
against Apache, Ute, and Cheyenne, and who, on
completing their term of service, had shown their
energy by settling in the new communities and
growing up to be men of mark. In other cases they
were sheriffs, marshals, deputy-sheriffs, and deputy-
marshals — men who had fought Indians, and still
more often had waged relentless war upon the bands
of white desperadoes. There was Bucky O'Neill,
of Arizona, Captain of Troop A, the Mayor of Pres-
cott, a famous sheriff throughout the West for his

20 The Rough Riders

feats of victorious warfare against the Apache, no
less than against the white road-agents and man-
killers. His father had fought in Meagher's Brig-
ade in the Civil War; and he was himself a born
soldier, a born leader of men. He was a wild, reck-
less fellow, soft spoken, and of dauntless courage
and boundless ambition; he was stanchly loyal to
his friends, and cared for his men in every way.
There was Captain Llewellen, of New Mexico, a
good citizen, a political leader, and one of the most
noted peace-officers of the country ; he had been shot
four times in pitched fights with red marauders and
white outlaws. There was Lieutenant Ballard, who
had broken up the Black Jack gang of ill-omened
notoriety, and his Captain, Curry, another New Mex-
ican sheriff of fame. The officers from the Indian
Territory had almost all served as marshals and
deputy-marshals; and in the Indian Territory, ser-
vice as a deputy-marshal meant capacity to fight
stand-up battles with the gangs of outlaws.

Three of our higher officers had been in the regu-
lar army. One was Major Alexander Brodie, from
Arizona, afterward Lieutenant-Colonel, who had
lived for twenty years in the Territory, and had be-
come a thorough Westerner without sinking the
West Pointer — a soldier by taste as well as training,
whose men worshiped him and would follow him
anywhere, as they would Bucky OfNeill or any

Raising the Regiment 21

other of their favorites. Brodie was running a big
mining business ; but when the Maine was blown up,
he abandoned everything and telegraphed Tight and
left to bid his friends get ready for the fight he saw
impending.

Then there was Micah Jenkins, the Captain of
Troop K, a gentle and courteous South Carolinian,
on whom danger acted like wine. In action he was
a perfect gamecock, and he won his majority for
gallantry in battle.

Finally, there was Allyn Capron, who was, on the
whole, the best soldier in the regiment. In fact, I
think he was the ideal of what an American regular
army officer should be. He was the fifth in descent
from father to son who had served in the army of
the United States, and in body and mind alike he
was fitted to play his part to perfection. Tall and
lithe, a remarkable boxer and walker, a first-class
rider and shot, with yellow hair and piercing blue
eyes, he looked what he was, the archetype of the
fighting man. He had under him one of the two
companies from the Indian Territory ; and he so soon
impressed himself upon the wild spirit of his follow-
ers, that he got them ahead in discipline faster than
any other troop in the regiment, while at the same
time taking care of their bodily wants. His cease-
less effort was so to train them, care for them, and
inspire them as to bring their fighting efficiency to

22 The Rough Riders

the highest possible pitch. He required instant obe-
dience, and tolerated not the slightest evasion of
duty ; but his mastery of his art was so thorough and
his performance of his own duty so rigid that he
won at once not merely their admiration, but that
soldierly affection so readily given by the man in the
ranks to the superior who cares for his men and
leads them fearlessly in battle.

All — Easterners and Westerners, Northerners
and Southerners, officers and men, cowboys and col-
lege graduates, wherever they came from, and what-
ever their social position — possessed in common the
traits of hardihood and a thirst for adventure. They
were to a man born adventurers, in the old sense of
the word.

The men in the ranks were mostly young; yet
some were past their first youth. These had taken
part in the killing of the great buffalo herds, and
had fought Indians when the tribes were still on
the warpath. The younger ones, too, had led rough
lives; and the lines in their faces told of many a
hardship endured, and many a danger silently faced
with grim, unconscious philosophy. Some were
originally from the East, and had seen strange ad-
ventures in different kinds of life, from sailing round
the Horn to mining in Alaska. Others had been
born and bred in the West, and had never seen a
larger town than Santa Fe or a bigger body of

Raising the Regiment 23

water than the Pecos in flood. Some of them went
by their own name ; some had changed their names ;
and yet others possessed but half a name, colored by
some adjective, like Cherokee Bill, Happy Jack of
Arizona, Smoky Moore, the bronco-buster, so named
because cowboys often call vicious horses "smoky"
horses, and Rattlesnake Pete, who had lived among
the Moquis and taken part in the snake-dances.
Some were professional gamblers, and, on the other
hand, no less than four were or had been Baptist or
Methodist clergymen — and proved first-class fight-
ers, too, by the way. Some were men whose lives
in the past had not been free from the taint of those
fierce kinds of crime into which the lawless spirits
who dwell on the borderland between civilization and
savagery so readily drift. A far larger number
had served at different times in those bodies of
armed men with which the growing civilization of
the border finally puts down its savagery.

There was one characteristic and distinctive con-
tingent which could have appeared only in such a
regiment as ours. From the Indian Territory there
came a number of Indians — Cherokees, Chickasaws,
Choctaws, and Creeks. Only a few were of pure
blood. The others shaded off until they were ab-
solutely indistinguishable from their white com-
rades; with whom, it may be mentioned, they all
lived on terms of complete equality.

24 The Rough Riders

Not all of the Indians were from the Indian Ter-
ritory. One of the gamest fighters and best soldiers
in the regiment was Pollock, a full-blooded Pawnee.
He had been educated, like most of the other In-
dians, at one of those admirable Indian schools
which have added so much to the total of the small
credit account with which the White race balances
the very unpleasant debit account of its dealings
with the Red. Pollock was a silent, solitary fellow
— an excellent penman, much given to drawing pic-
tures. When we got down to Santiago he devel-
oped into the regimental clerk. I never suspected
him of having a sense of humor until one day, at
the end of our stay in Cuba, as he was sitting in the
Adjutant's tent working over the returns, there
turned up a trooper of the First who had been act-
ing as barber. Eying him with immovable face,
Pollock asked, in a guttural voice, "Do you cut
hair?" The man answered, "Yes"; and Pollock
continued, "Then you'd better cut mine," muttering,
in an explanatory soliloquy, "Don't want to wear
my hair long like a wild Indian when I'm in civilized
warfare."

Another Indian came from Texas. He was a
brakeman on the Southern Pacific, and wrote tell-
ing me he was an American Indian, and that he
wanted to enlist. His name was Colbert, which at
once attracted my attention ; for I was familiar with

Raising the Regiment 25

the history of the Cherokees and Chickasaws during
the eighteenth century, when they lived east of the
Mississippi. Early in that century various traders,
chiefly Scotchmen, settled among them, and the half-
breed descendants of one named Colbert became the
most noted chiefs of the Chickasaws. I summoned
the applicant before me, and found that he was an
excellent man, and, as I had supposed, a descendant
of the old Chickasaw chiefs.

He brought into the regiment, by the way, his
"partner," a white man. The two had been insep-
arable companions for some years, and continued so
in the regiment. Every man who has lived in the
West knows that, vindictive though the hatred be-
tween the white man and the Indian is when they
stand against one another in what may be called
their tribal relations, yet that men of Indian blood,
when adopted into white communities, are usually
treated precisely like any one else.

Colbert was not the only Indian whose name I
recognized. There was a Cherokee named Adair,
who, upon inquiry, I found to be descended from
the man who, a century and a half ago, wrote a
ponderous folio, to this day of great interest, about
the Cherokees, with whom he had spent the best
years of his life as a trader and agent.

I don't know that I ever came across a man with
a really sweeter nature than another Cherokee
VOL. XL— B

26 The Rough Riders

named Holderman. He was an excellent soldier,
and for a long time acted as cook for the head-
quarters mess. He was a half-breed, and came of
a soldier stock on both sides and through both races.
He explained to me once why he had come to the
war; that it was because his people always had
fought when there was a war, and he could not
feel happy to stay at home when the flag was going
into battle.

Two of the young Cherokee recruits came to me
with a most kindly letter from one of the ladies who
had been teaching in the academy from which they
were about to graduate. She and I had known one
another in connection with Governmental and phil-
anthropic work on the reservations, and she wrote
to commend the two boys to my attention. One
was on the Academy football team and the other in
the glee-club. Both were fine young fellows. The
football player now lies buried with the other dead
who fell in the fight at San Juan. The singer was
brought to death's door by fever, but recovered and
came back to his home.

There were other Indians of much wilder type,
but their wildness was precisely like that of the cow-
boys with whom they were associated. One or two
of them needed rough discipline; and they got it,
too. Like the rest of the regiment, they were splen-
did riders. I remember one man, whose character

Raising the Regiment 27

left much to be desired in some respects, but
whose horsemanship was unexceptionable. He was
mounted on an exceedingly bad bronco, which would
bolt out of the ranks at drill. He broke it of this
habit by the simple expedient of giving it two tre-
mendous twists, first to one side and then to the
other, as it bolted, with the result that, invariably,
at the second bound its legs crossed and over it went
with a smash, the rider taking the somersault with
unmoved equanimity.

The life histories of some of the men who joined
our regiment would make many volumes of thrilling
adventure.

We drew a great many recruits from Texas ; and
from nowhere did we get a higher average, for
many of them had served in that famous body of
frontier fighters, the Texas Rangers. Of course,
these rangers needed no teaching. They were al-
ready trained to obey and to take responsibility.
They were splendid shots, horsemen, and trailers.
They were accustomed to living in the open, to en-
during great fatigue and hardship, and to encoun-
tering all kinds of danger.

Many of the Arizona and New Mexico men had
taken part in warfare with the Apaches, those ter-
rible Indians of the waterless Southwestern moun-
tains— the most bloodthirsty and the wildest of all
the red men of America, and the most formidable

28 The Rough Riders

in their own dreadful style of warfare. Of course,
a man who had kept his nerve and held his own,
year after year, while living where each day and
night contained the threat of hidden death from a
foe whose goings and comings were unseen, was
not apt to lose courage when confronted with any
other enemy. An experience in following in the
trail of an enemy who might flee at one stretch
through fifty miles of death-like desert was a
good school out of which to come with profound
indifference for the ordinary hardships of cam-
paigning.

As a rule, the men were more apt, however, to
have had experience in warring against white des-
peradoes and law-breakers than against Indians.
Some of our best recruits came from Colorado.
One, a very large, hawk-eyed man, Benjamin Frank-
lin Daniels, had been Marshal of Dodge City when
that pleasing town was probably the toughest abode
of civilized man to be found anywhere on the con-
tinent. In the course of the exercise of his rather
lurid functions as peace-officer he had lost half
of one ear — "bitten off," it was explained to me.
Naturally, he viewed the dangers of battle with
philosophic calm. Such a man was, in reality, a
veteran even in his first fight, and was a tower of
strength to the recruits in his part of the line. With
him there came into the regiment a deputy-marshal

Raising the Regiment 29

from Cripple Creek named Sherman Bell. Bell
had a hernia, but he was so excellent a man that we
decided to take him. I do not think I ever saw
greater resolution than Bell displayed throughout
the campaign. In Cuba the great exertions which
he was forced to make again and again opened the
hernia, and the surgeons insisted that he must re-
turn to the United States ; but he simply would not
go.

Then there was little McGinty, the bronco-bus-
ter from Oklahoma, who never had walked a hun-
dred yards if by any possibility he could ride. When
McGinty was reproved for his absolute inability to
keep step on the drill-ground, he responded that he
was pretty sure he could keep step on horseback.
McGinty's short legs caused him much trouble on
the marches, but we had no braver or better man in
the fights.

One old friend of mine had come from far north-
ern Idaho to join the regiment at San Antonio,
He was a hunter, named Fred Herrig, an Alsatian
by birth. A dozen years before he and I had hunted
mountain-sheep and deer when laying in the winter
stock of meat for my ranch on the Little Missouri,
sometimes in the bright fall weather, sometimes in
the Arctic bitterness of the early Northern winter.
He was the most loyal and simple-hearted of men,
and he had come to join his old "boss" and comrade

30 The Rough Riders

in the bigger hunting which we were to carry on
through the tropic mid-summer.

The temptation is great to go on enumerating
man after man who stood pre-eminent, whether as
a killer of game, a tamer of horses, or a queller of
disorder among his people, or who, mayhap, stood
out with a more evil prominence as himself a dan-
gerous man — one given to the taking of life on
small provocation, or one who was ready to earn his
living outside the law if the occasion demanded it.
There was tall Proffit, the sharpshooter, from North
Carolina — sinewy, saturnine, fearless; Smith, the
bear-hunter from Wyoming, and McCann, the Ari-
zona bookkeeper, who had begun life as a buffalo-
hunter. There was Crockett, the Georgian, who had
been an Internal Revenue officer, and had waged
perilous war on the rifle-bearing "moonshiners."
There were Darnell and Wood of New Mexico, who
could literally ride any horses alive. There were
Goodwin, and Buck Taylor, and Armstrong the
ranger, crack shots with rifle or revolver. There
was many a skilled packer who had led and guarded
his trains of laden mules through the Indian-haunted
country surrounding some outpost of civilization.
There were men who had won fame as Rocky Moun-
tain stage-drivers, or who had spent endless days
in guiding the slow wagon-trains across the grassy
plains. There were miners who knew every camp

Raising the Regiment 31

from the Yukon to Leadville, and cow-punchers in
whose memories were stored the brands carried by
the herds from Chihuahua to Assiniboia. There
were men who had roped wild steers in the mes-
quite brush of the Nueces, and who, year in and
year out, had driven the trail herds northward over
desolate wastes and across the fords of shrunken
rivers to the fattening grounds of the Powder and
the Yellowstone. They were hardened to the scorch-
ing heat and bitter cold of the dry plains and pine-
clad mountains. They were accustomed to sleep in
the open, while the picketed horses grazed beside
them near some shallow, reedy pool. They had
wandered hither and thither across the vast deso-
lation of the wilderness, alone or with comrades.
They had cowered in the shelter of cut banks from
the icy blasts of the norther, and far out on the mid-
summer prairies they had known the luxury of lying
in the shade of the wagon during the noonday rest.
They had lived in brush lean-tos for weeks at a time,
or with only the wagon-sheet as an occasional house.
They had fared hard when exploring the unknown ;
they had fared well on the round-up; and they had
known the plenty of the log ranch-houses, where the
tables were spread with smoked venison and calf-
ribs and milk and bread, and vegetables from the
garden-patch.

Such were the men we had as recruits: soldiers

32 The Rough Riders

ready made, as far as concerned their capacity as in-
dividual fighters. What was necessary was to teach
them to act together, and to obey orders. Our
special task was to make them ready for action in
the shortest possible time. We were bound to see
fighting, and therefore to be with the first expedi-
tion that left the United States; for we could not
tell how long the war would last.

I had been quite prepared for trouble when it
came to enforcing discipline, but I was agreeably
disappointed. There were plenty of hard characters
who might by themselves have given trouble, and
with one or two of whom we did have to take rough
measures; but the bulk of the men thoroughly un-
derstood that without discipline they would be mere-
ly a valueless mob, and they set themselves hard at
work to learn the new duties. Of course, such a
regiment, in spite of, or indeed I might almost say
because of, the characteristics which made the in-
dividual men so exceptionally formidable as soldiers,
could very readily have been spoiled. Any weak-
ness in the commander would have ruined it. On
the other hand, to treat it from the standpoint of the
martinet and military pedant would have been al-
most equally fatal. From the beginning we started
out to secure the essentials of discipline, while lay-
ing just as little stress as possible on the non-essen-
tials. The men were singularly quick to respond

Raising the Regiment 33

to any appeal to their intelligence and patriotism.
The faults they committed were those of ignorance
merely. When Holderman, in announcing dinner
to the Colonel and the three Majors, genially re-
marked, "If you fellars don't come soon, everything
'11 get cold," he had no thought of other than a
kindly and respectful regard for their welfare, and
was glad to modify his form of address on being
told that it was not what could be described as con-
ventionally military. When one of our sentinels,
who had with much labor learned the manual of
arms, saluted with great pride as I passed, and
added, with a friendly nod, "Good-evening, Colo-
nel," this variation in the accepted formula on such
occasions was meant, and was accepted, as mere
friendly interest. In both cases the needed instruc-
tion was given and received in the same kindly
spirit.

One of the new Indian Territory recruits, after
twenty-four hours' stay in camp, during which he
had held himself distinctly aloof from the general
interests, called on the Colonel in his tent, and re-
marked, "Well, Colonel, I want to shake hands
and say we're with you. We didn't know how we
would like you fellars at first; but you're all right,
and you know your business, and you mean busi-
ness, and you can count on us every time!"

That same night, which was hot, mosquitoes were

34 The Rough Riders

very annoying; and shortly after midnight both the
Colonel and I came to the doors of our respective
tents, which adjoined one another. The sentinel
in front was also fighting mosquitoes. As we came
out we saw him pitch his gun about ten feet off, and
sit down to attack some of the pests that had
swarmed up his trousers' legs. Happening to glance
in our direction, he nodded pleasantly and, with un-
abashed and friendly feeling, remarked, "Ain't they
bad?"

It was astonishing how soon the men got over-*
these little peculiarities. They speedily grew to rec-
ognize the fact that the observance of certain forms
was essential to the maintenance of proper disci-
pline. They became scrupulously careful in touch-
ing their hats, and always came to attention when
spoken to. They saw that we did not insist upon
the observance of these forms to humiliate them;
that we were as anxious to learn our own duties as
we were to have them learn theirs, and as scrupu-
lous in paying respect to our superiors as we were
in exacting the acknowledgment due our rank from
those below us ; moreover, what was very important,
they saw that we were careful to look after their
interests in every way, and were doing all that was
possible to hurry up the equipment and drill of the
regiment, so as to get into the war.

Rigid guard duty was established at once, and

Raising the Regiment 35

every one was impressed with the necessity for vig-
ilance and watchfulness. The policing of the camp
was likewise attended to with the utmost rigor. As
always with new troops, they were at first indiffer-
ent to the necessity for cleanliness in camp arrange-
ments; but on this point Colonel Wood brooked no
laxity, and in a very little while the hygienic condi-
tions of the camp were as good as those of any regu-
lar regiment. Meanwhile the men were being
drilled, on foot at first, with the utmost assiduity.
Every night we had officers' school, the non-com-
missioned officers of each troop being given similar
schooling by the Captain or one of the Lieutenants
of the troop ; and every day we practiced hard, by
squad, by troop, by squadron, and battalion. The
earnestness and intelligence with which the men
went to work rendered the task of instruction much
less difficult than would be supposed. It soon grew
easy to handle the regiment in all the simpler forms
of close and open order. When they had grown so
that they could be handled with ease in marching,
and in the ordinary manoeuvres of the drill-ground,
we began to train them in open-order work, skir-
mishing and firing. Here their woodcraft and
plainscraft, their knowledge of the rifle, helped us
very much. Skirmishing they took to naturally,
which was fortunate, as practically all our fighting
was done in open order.

36 The Rough Riders

Meanwhile we were purchasing horses. Judg-
ing from what I saw I do not think that we got
heavy enough animals, and of those purchased cer-
tainly a half were nearly unbroken. It was no easy
matter to handle them on the picket-lines, and to
provide for feeding and watering; and the efforts
to shoe and ride them were at first productive of
much vigorous excitement. Of course, those that
were wild from the range had to be thrown and tied
down before they could be shod. Half the horses
of the regiment bucked, or possessed some other of
the amiable weaknesses incident to horse life on the
great ranches; but we had abundance of men who
were utterly unmoved by any antic a horse might
commit. Every animal was speedily mastered,
though a large number remained to the end mounts
upon which an ordinary rider would have felt very
uncomfortable.

My own horses were purchased for me by a Texas
friend, John Moore, with whom I had once hunted
peccaries on the Nueces. I only paid fifty dollars
apiece, and the animals were not showy; but they
were tough and hardy, and answered my purpose
well.

Mounted drill with such horses and men bade
fair to offer opportunities for excitement; yet it
usually went off smoothly enough. Before drilling
the men on horseback they had all been drilled on

Raising the Regiment 37

foot, and having gone at their work with hearty
zest, they knew well the simple movements to form
any kind of line or column. Wood was busy from
morning till night in hurrying the final details of
the equipment, and he turned the drill of the men
over to me. To drill perfectly needs long practice,
but to drill roughly is a thing very easy to learn in-
deed. We were not always right about our inter-
vals, our lines were somewhat irregular, and our
more difficult movements were executed at times in
rather a haphazard way; but the essential com-
mands and the essential movements we learned with-
out any difficulty, and the men performed them with
great dash. When we put them on horseback, there
was, of course, trouble with the horses; but the
horsemanship of the riders was consummate. In
fact, the men were immensely interested in making
their horses perform each evolution with the utmost
speed and accuracy, and in forcing each unquiet,
vicious brute to get into line and stay in line,
whether he would or not. The guidon-bearers held
their plunging steeds true to the line, no matter
what they tried to do; and each wild rider brought
his wild horse into his proper place with a dash and
ease which showed the natural cavalryman.

In short, from the very beginning the horseback
drills were good fun, and every one enjoyed them.
We marched out through the adjoining country to

38 The Rough Riders

drill wherever we found open ground, practicing all
the different column formations as we went. On
the open ground we threw out the line to one side
or the other, and in one position and the other, some-
times at the trot, sometimes at the gallop. As the
men grew accustomed to the simple evolutions, we
tried them more and more in skirmish drills, prac-
ticing them so that they might get accustomed to
advance in open order and to skirmish in any coun-
try, while the horses were held in the rear.

Our arms were the regular cavalry carbine, the
"Krag," a splendid weapon, and the revolver. A
few carried their favorite Winchesters, using, of
course, the new model, which took the Government
cartridge. We felt very strongly that it would be
worse than a waste of time to try to train our men
to use the sabre — a weapon utterly alien to them;
but with the rifle and revolver they Were already
familiar. Many of my cavalry friends in the past
had insisted to me that the revolver was a better
weapon than the sword — among them Basil Duke,
the noted Confederate cavalry leader, and Captain
Frank Edwards, whom I had met when elk-hunting
on the headwaters of the Yellowstone and the
Snake. Personally, I knew too little to decide as
to the comparative merits of the two arms; but I
did know that it was a great deal better to use the
arm with which our men were already proficient.

Raising the Regiment 39

They were therefore armed with what might be
called their natural weapon, the revolver.

As it turned out, we were not used mounted at
all, so that our preparations on this point came to
nothing. In a way, I have always regretted this.
We thought we should at least be employed as cav-
alry in the great campaign against Havana in the
fall; and from the beginning I began to train my
men in shock tactics for use against hostile cavalry.
My belief was that the horse was really the 'weapon
with which to strike the first blow. I felt that if
my men could be trained to hit their adversaries
with their horses, it was a matter of small amount
whether, at the moment when the onset occurred,
sabres, lances, or revolvers were used ; while in the
subsequent melee I believed the revolver would out-
class cold steel as a weapon. But this is all guess-
work, for we never had occasion to try the experi-
ment.

It was astonishing what a difference was made
by two or three weeks' training. The mere thor-
ough performance of guard and police duties helped
the men very rapidly to become soldiers. The offi-
cers studied hard, and both officers and men worked
hard in the drill-field. It was, of course, rough and
ready drill; but it was very efficient, and it was
suited to the men who made up the regiment. Their
uniform also suited them. In their slouch hats, blue

40 The Rough Riders

flannel shirts, brown trousers, leggings, and boots,
with handkerchiefs knotted loosely around their
necks, they looked exactly as a body of cowboy cav-
alry should look. The officers speedily grew to real-
ize that they must not be over-familiar with their
men, and yet that they must care for them in every
way. The men, in return, began to acquire those
habits of attention to soldierly detail which mean so
much in making a regiment. Above all, every man
felt, and had constantly instilled into him, a keen
pride of the regiment, and a resolute purpose to. do
his whole duty uncomplainingly, and, above all,
to win glory by the way he handled himself in
battle.

II

TO CUBA

UP to the last moment we were spending every
ounce of energy we had in getting the regiment
into shape. Fortunately, there were a good many
vacancies among the officers, as the original number
of 780 men was increased to 1,000; so that two com-
panies were organized entirely anew. This gave the
chance to promote some first-rate men.

One of the most useful members of the regiment
was Dr. Robb Church, formerly a Princeton football
player. He was appointed as Assistant Surgeon,
but acted throughout almost all the Cuban cam-
paign as the Regimental Surgeon. It was Dr.
Church who first gave me an idea of Bucky O'Neill's
versatility, for I happened to overhear them dis-
cussing Aryan word-roots together, and then sliding
off into a review of the novels of Balzac, and a dis-
cussion as to how far Balzac could be said to be
the founder of the modern realistic school of fiction.
Church had led almost as varied a life as Bucky
himself, his career including incidents as far apart
as exploring and elk-hunting in the Olympic Moun-

(41)

42 The Rough Riders

tains, cooking in a lumber-camp, and serving as doc-
tor on an emigrant ship.

Woodbury Kane was given a commission, and also
Horace Devereux, of Princeton. Kane was older
than the other college men who entered in the ranks ;
and as he had the same good qualities to start with,
this resulted in his ultimately becoming perhaps the
most useful soldier in the regiment. He escaped
wounds and serious sickness, and was able to serve
through every day of the regiment's existence.

Two of the men made Second Lieutenants by
promotion from the ranks while in San Antonio
were John Greenway, a noted Yale football player
and catcher on her baseball nine, and David Good-
rich, for two years captain of the Harvard crew.
They were young men, Goodrich having only just
graduated; while Greenway, whose father had
served with honor in the Confederate Army, had
been out of Yale three or four years. They were
natural soldiers, and it would be wellnigh impossible
to overestimate the amount of good they did the
regiment. They were strapping fellows, entirely
fearless, modest, and quiet. Their only thought was
how to perfect themselves in their own duties, and
how to take care of the men under them, so as to
bring them to the highest point of soldierly per-
fection. I grew steadily to rely upon them, as men
who could be counted upon with absolute certainty,

To Cuba 43

not only in every emergency, but in all routine work.
They were never so tired as not to respond with
eagerness to the slightest suggestion of doing some-
thing new, whether it was dangerous or merely
difficult and laborious. They not merely did their
duty, but were always on the watch to find out some
new duty which they could construe to be theirs.
Whether it was policing camp, or keeping guard, or
preventing straggling on the march, or procuring
food for the men, or seeing that they took care of
themselves in camp, or performing some feat of un-
usual hazard in the fight — no call was ever made
upon them to which they did not respond with eager
thankfulness for being given the chance to answer
it. Later on I worked them as hard as I knew how,
and the regiment will always be their debtor.

Green way was from Arkansas. We could have
filled up the whole regiment many times over from
the South Atlantic and Gulf States alone, but were
only able to accept a very few applicants. One of
them was John Mcllhenny, of Louisiana; a planter
and manufacturer, a big-game hunter and book-
lover, who could have had a commission in the
Louisiana troops, but who preferred to go as a
trooper in the Rough Riders because he believed we
would surely see fighting. He could have com-
manded any influence, social or political, he wished ;
but he never asked a favor of any kind. He went

44 The Rough Riders

into one of the New Mexican troops, and by his
high qualities and zealous attention to duty speedily
rose to a sergeancy, and finally won his lieutenancy
for gallantry in action.

The tone of the officers' mess was very high.
Every one seemed to realize that he had undertaken
most serious work. They all earnestly wished for a
chance to distinguish themselves, and fully appre-
ciated that they rani the risk not merely of death,
but of what was infinitely worse — namely, failure
at the crisis to perform duty well; and they strove
earnestly so to train themselves, and the men under
them, as to minimize the possibility of such disgrace.
Every officer and every man was taught continu-
ally to look forward to the day of battle eagerly, but
with an entire sense of the drain that would then be
made upon his endurance and resolution. They
were also taught that, before the battle came, the
rigorous performance of the countless irksome duties
of the camp and the march was demanded from all
alike, and that no excuse would be tolerated for fail-
ure to perform duty. Very few of the men had gone
into the regiment lightly, and 'the fact that they
did their duty so well may be largely attributed to
the seriousness with which these eager, adventurous
young fellows approached their work. This seri-
ousness, and a certain simple manliness which ac-
companied it, had one very pleasant side. During

To Cuba 45

our entire time of service, I never heard in the offi-
cers' mess a foul story or a foul word; and though
there was occasional hard swearing in moments of
emergency, yet even this was the exception.

The regiment attracted adventurous spirits from
everywhere. Our chief trumpeter was a native
American, our second trumpeter was from the Medi-
terranean— I think an Italian — who had been a sol-
dier of fortune not only in Egypt, but in the French
Army in Southern China. Two excellent men were
Osborne, a tall Australian, who had been an officer
in the New South Wales Mounted Rifles ; and Cook,
an Englishman, who had served in South Africa.
Both, when the regiment disbanded, were plaintive
in expressing their fond regret that it could not be
used against the Transvaal Boers!

One of our best soldiers was a man whose real
and assumed names I, for obvious reasons, conceal.
He usually went by a nickname which I will call
Tennessee. He was a tall, gaunt fellow, with a
quiet and distinctly sinister eye, who did his duty
excellently, especially when a fight was on, and
who, being an expert gambler, always contrived
to reap a rich harvest after pay-day. When the
regiment was mustered out, he asked me to put a
brief memorandum of his services on his discharge
certificate, which I gladly did. He much appre-
ciated this, and added, in explanation, "You see,

46 The Rough Riders

Colonel, my real name isn't Smith, it's Yancy. I
had to change it, because three or four years ago I
had a little trouble with a gentleman, and — er —
well, in fact, I had to kill him ; and the District At-
torney, he had it in for me, and so I just skipped the
country; and now, if it ever should be brought up
against me, I should like to show your certificate
as to my character!" The course of frontier justice
sometimes moves in unexpected zigzags; so I did
not express the doubt I felt as to whether my cer-
tificate that he had been a good soldier would help
him much if he was tried for a murder committed
three or four years previously.

The men worked hard and faithfully. As a rule,
in spite of the number of rough characters among
them, they behaved very well. One night a few of
them went on a spree, and proceeded "to paint San
Antonio red." One was captured by the city au-
thorities, and we had to leave him behind us in
jail. The others we dealt with ourselves, in a way
that prevented a repetition of the occurrence.

The men speedily gave one another nicknames,
largely conferred in a spirit of derision, their basis
lying in contrast. A brave but fastidious member
of a well-known Eastern club, who was serving in
the ranks, was christened "Tough Ike"; and his
bunkie, the man who shared his shelter-tent, who
was a decidedly rough cowpuncher, gradually ac-

To Cuba 47

quired the name of "The Dude." One unlucky and
simple-minded cowpuncher, who had never been east
of the great plains in his life, unwarily boasted that
he had an aunt in New York, and ever afterward
went by the name of "Metropolitan Bill." A huge
red-headed Irishman was named "Sheeny Solo-
mon." A young Jew who developed into one of the
best fighters in the regiment accepted, with entire
equanimity, the name of "Pork-chop." We had
quite a number of professional gamblers, who, I am
bound to say, usually made good soldiers. One,
who was almost abnormally quiet and gentle, was
called "Hell Roarer"; while another, who in point
of language and deportment was his exact antithesis,
was christened "Prayerful James."

While the officers and men were learning their
duties, and learning to know one another, Colonel
Wood was straining- every nerve to get our equip-
ments— an effort which was complicated by the
tendency of the Ordnance Bureau to send whatever
we really needed by freight instead of express.
Finally, just as the last rifles, revolvers, and saddles
came, we were ordered by wire at once to proceed
by train to Tampa.

Instantly, all was joyful excitement. We had
enjoyed San Antonio, and were glad that our regi-
ment had been organized in the city where the
Alamo commemorates the death fight of Crockett,

48 The Rough Riders

Bowie, and their famous band of frontier heroes.
All of us had worked hard, so that we had had no
time to be homesick or downcast ; but we were glad
to leave the hot camp, where every day the strong
wind sifted the dust through everything, and to
start for the gathering-place of the army which was
to invade Cuba. Our horses and men were getting
into good shape. We were well enough equipped to
warrant our starting on the campaign, and every
man was filled with dread of being out of the fight-
ing. We had a pack-train of. 150 mules, so we had
close on to 1,200 animals to carry.

Of course, our train was split up into sections,
seven, all told ; Colonel Wood commanding the first
three, and I the last four. The journey by rail
from San Antonio to Tampa took just four days,
and I doubt if anybody who was on the trip will soon
forget it. To occupy my few spare moments, I
was reading M. Demolins's "Superiorite des Anglo-
Saxons." M. Demolins, in giving the reasons why
the English-speaking peoples are superior to those
of Continental Europe, lays much stress upon the
way in which "militarism" deadens the power of
individual initiative, the soldier being trained to com-
plete suppression of individual will, while his facul-
ties become atrophied in consequence of his being
merely a cog in a vast and perfectly ordered ma-
chine. I can assure the excellent French publicist

To Cuba 49

that American "militarism," at least of the volun-
teer sort, has points of difference from the militarism
of Continental Europe. The battalion chief of a
newly raised American regiment, when striving to
get into a war which the American people have un-
dertaken with buoyant and light-hearted indifference
to detail, has positively unlimited opportunity for
the display of "individual initiative," and is in no
danger whatever either of suffering from unhealthy
suppression of personal will, or of finding his facul-
ties of self-help numbed by becoming a cog in a
gigantic and smooth-running machine. If such a
battalion chief wants to get anything or go any-
where he must do it by exercising every pound of
resource, inventiveness, and audacity he possesses.
The help, advice, and superintendence he gets from
outside will be of the most general, not to say super-
ficial, character. If he is a cavalry officer, he has
got to hurry and push the purchase of his horses,
plunging into and out of the meshes of red-tape
as best he can. He will have to fight for his rifles
and his tents and his clothes. He will have to keep
his men healthy largely by the light that nature has
given him. When he wishes to embark his regi-
ment, he will have to fight for his railway-cars ex-
actly as he fights for his transport when it comes to
going across the sea; and on his journey his men
will or will not have food, and his horses will or will

VOL. XL— C

50 The Rough Riders

not have water and hay, and the trains will or will
not make connections, in exact correspondence to the
energy and success of his own efforts to keep things
moving straight.

It was on Sunday, May 29th, that we marched
out of our hot, windy, dusty camp to take the cars
for Tampa. Colonel Wood went first, with the
three sections under his special care. I followed
with the other four. The railway had promised us
a forty-eight hours' trip, but our experience in load-
ing was enough to show that the promise would not
be made good. There were no proper facilities for
getting the horses on or off the cars, or for feeding
or watering them,; and there was endless confusion
and delay among the railway officials. I marched
my four sections over in the afternoon, the first three
having taken the entire day to get off. We occupied
the night. As far as the regiment itself was con-
cerned, we worked an excellent system, Wood in-
structing me exactly how to proceed so as to avoid
confusion. Being a veteran campaigner, he had all
along insisted that for such work as we had before
us we must travel with the minimum possible lug-
gage. The men had merely what they could carry
on their own backs, and the officers very little more.
My own roll of clothes and bedding could be put
on my spare horse. The mule-train was to be used
simply for food, forage, and spare ammunition. As

To Cuba 51

it turned out, we were not allowed to take either it
or the horses.

It was dusk when I inarched my long files of dusty
troopers into the station-yard. I then made all dis-
mount, excepting the troop which I first intended to
load. This was brought up to the first freight-car.
Here every man unsaddled, and left his saddle,
bridle, and all that he did not himself need in the car,
each individual's property being corded together.
A guard was left in the car, and the rest of the men
took the naked horses into the pens to be fed and
watered. The other troops were loaded in the same
way in succession. With each section there were
thus a couple of baggage-cars in which the horse-
gear, the superfluous baggage, and the travel ra-
tions were carried ; and I also put aboard, not only
at starting, but at every other opportunity, what
oats and hay I could get, so as to provide against
accidents for the horses. By the time the baggage-
cars were loaded the horses of the first section had
eaten and drunk their fill, and we loaded them on
cattle-cars. The officers of each troop saw to the
loading, taking a dozen picked men to help them;
for some of the wild creatures, half broken and fresh
from the ranges, were with difficulty driven up the
chutes. Meanwhile I superintended not merely my
own men, but the railroad men ; and when the delays
of the latter, and their inability to understand what

52 The Rough Riders

was necessary, grew past bearing, I took charge of
the trains myself, so as to ensure the horse-cars
of each section being coupled with the baggage-
cars of that section.

We worked until long past midnight before we
got the horses and baggage aboard, and then found
that for some reason the passenger-cars were de-
layed and would not be out for some hours. In the
confusion and darkness men of the different troops
had become scattered, and some had drifted off to
the vile drinking-booths around the stockyards; so
I sent details to search the latter, while the trumpe-
ters blew the assembly until the First Sergeants
could account for all the men. Then the troops
were arranged in order, and the men of each lay
down where they were, by the tracks and in the
brush, to sleep until morning.

At dawn the passenger-trains arrived. The senior
Captain of each section saw to it that his own
horses, troopers, and baggage were together; and
one by one they started off, I taking the last in
person. Captain Capron had at the very beginning
shown himself to be simply invaluable, from his
extraordinary energy, executive capacity, and mas-
tery over men ; and I kept his section next mine, so
that we generally came together at the different
yards.

The next four days were very hot and very dusty.

To Cuba 53

I tried to arrange so the sections would be far
enough apart to allow each ample time to unload,
feed, water, and load the horses at any stopping-
place before the next section could arrive. There
was enough delay and failure to make connections
on the part of the railroad people to keep me en-
tirely busy, not to speak of seeing at the stopping-
places that the inexperienced officers got enough hay
for their horses, and that the water given to them
was both ample in quantity and drinkable. It hap-
pened that we usually made our longest stops at
night, and this meant that we were up all night long.

Two or three times a day I got the men buckets
of hot coffee, and when we made a long enough stop
they were allowed liberty under the supervision of
the non-commissioned officers. Some of them
abused the privilege, and started to get drunk.
These were promptly handled with the necessary
severity, in the interest of the others; for it was
only by putting an immediate check to every form
of lawlessness or disobedience among the few men
who were inclined to be bad that we were enabled
to give full liberty to those who would not abuse it.

Everywhere the people came out to greet us and
cheer us. They brought us flowers ; they brought us
watermelons and other fruits, and sometimes jugs
and pails of milk — all of which we greatly appre-
ciated. We were traveling through a region where

54 The Rough Riders

practically all the older men had served in the Con-
federate Army, and where the younger men had all
their lives long drunk in the endless tales told by
their elders, at home, and at the cross-roads taverns,
and in the court-house squares, about the cavalry
of Forrest and Morgan and the infantry of Jackson
and Hood. The blood of the old men stirred to the
distant breath of battle; the blood of the young
men leaped hot with eager desire to accompany us.
The older women, who remembered the dreadful
misery of war — the misery that presses its iron
weight most heavily on the wives and the little ones
— looked sadly at us ; but the young girls drove down
in bevies, arrayed in their finery, to wave flags
in farewell to the troopers and to beg cartridges and
buttons as mementos. Everywhere we saw the Stars
and Stripes, and everywhere we were told, half-
laughing, by grizzled ex-Confederates that they had
never dreamed in the bygone days of bitterness to
greet the old flag as they now were greeting it, and
to send their sons, as now they were sending them,
to fight and die under it.

It was four days later that we disembarked, in a
perfect welter of confusion. Tampa lay in the pine-
covered sand-flats at the end of a one-track railroad,
and everything connected with both military and
railroad matters was in an almost inextricable tangle.
There was no one to meet us or to tell us where we

To Cuba 55

were to camp, and no one to issue us food for the
first twenty- four hours ; while the railroad people un-
loaded us wherever they pleased, or rather wherever
the jam of all kinds of trains rendered it possible.
We had to buy the men food out of our own pockets,
and to seize wagons in order to get our spare bag-
gage taken to the camping ground which we at last
found had been allotted to us.

Once on the ground, we speedily got order out
of confusion. Under Wood's eye the tents were
put up in long streets, the picket-line of each troop
stretching down its side of each street. The offi-
cers' quarters were at the upper ends of the streets,
the company kitchens and sinks at the opposite ends.
The camp was strictly policed, and drill promptly be-
gun. For thirty-six hours we let the horses rest,
drilling on foot, and then began the mounted drill
again. The regiments with which we were after-
ward to serve were camped near us, and the sandy
streets of the little town were thronged with soldiers,
almost all of them regulars ; for there were but one
or two volunteer organizations besides ourselves.
The regulars wore the canonical dark blue of Uncle
Sam. Our own men were clad in dusty brown
blouses, trousers and leggings being of the same hue,
while the broad-brimmed soft hat was of dark gray ;
and very workmanlike they looked as, in column of
fours, each troop trotted down its company street to

56 The Rough Riders

form by squadron or battalion, the troopers sitting
steadily in the saddles as they made their half-trained
horses conform to the movement of the guidons.

Over in Tampa town the huge winter hotel was
gay with general officers and their staffs, with women
in pretty dresses, with newspaper correspondents by
the score, with military attaches of foreign powers,
and with onlookers of all sorts; but we spent very
little time there.

We worked with the utmost industry, special at-
tention being given by each troop-commander to
skirmish-drill in the woods. Once or twice we had
mounted drill of the regiment as a whole. The mili-
tary attaches came out to look on — English, German,
Russian, French, and Japanese. With the English-
man, Captain Arthur Lee, a capital fellow, we soon
struck up an especially close friendship; and we saw
much of him throughout the campaign. So we did
of several of the newspaper correspondents — Rich-
ard Harding Davis, John Fox, Jr., Caspar Whitney,
and Frederic Remington. On Sunday Chaplain
Brown, of Arizona, held service, as he did almost
every Sunday during the campaign.

There were but four or five days at Tampa, how-
ever. We were notified that the expedition would
start for destination unknown at once, and that we
were to go with it; but that our horses were to be
left behind, and only eight troops of seventy men

To Cuba 57

each taken. Our sorrow at leaving the horses was
entirely outweighed by our joy at going; but it was
very hard indeed to select the four troops that were
to stay, and the men who had to be left behind from
each of the troops that went. Colonel Wood took
Major Broclie and myself to command the two
squadrons, being allowed only two squadron com-
manders. The men who were left behind felt the
most bitter heartburn. To the great bulk of them
I think it will be a lifelong sorrow. I saw more than
one, both among the officers and privates, burst into
tears when he found he could not go. No outsider
can appreciate the bitterness of the disappointment.
Of course, really, those that stayed were entitled to
precisely as much honor as those that went. Each
man was doing his duty, and much the hardest and
most disagreeable duty was to stay. Credit should
go with the performance of duty, and not with what
is very often the accident of glory. All this and
much more we explained, but our explanations could
not alter the fact that some had to be chosen and
some had to be left. One of the Captains chosen
was Captain Maximilian Luna, who commanded
Troop F, from New Mexico. The Captain's people
had been on the banks of the Rio Grande before my
forefathers came to the mouth of the Hudson or
Wood's landed at Plymouth; and he made the plea
that it was his right to go as a representative of his

5 8 The Rough Riders

race, for he was the only man of pure Spanish blood
who bore a commission in the army, and he de-
manded the privilege of proving that his people were
precisely as loyal Americans as any others. I was
glad when it was decided to take him.

It was the evening of June 7th when we suddenly
received orders that the expedition was to start from
Port Tampa, nine miles distant by rail, at daybreak
the following morning; and that if we were not
aboard our transport by that time we could not go.
We had no intention of getting left, and prepared at
once for the scramble which was evidently about to
take place. As the number and capacity of the trans-
ports were known, or ought to have been known, and
as the number and size of the regiments to go were
also known, the task of allotting each regiment or
fraction of a regiment to its proper transport, and
arranging that the regiments and the transports
should meet in due order on the deck, ought not to
have been difficult. However, no arrangements were
made in advance; and we were allowed to shove and
hustle for ourselves as best we could, on much the
same principles that had governed our preparations
hitherto.

We were ordered to be at a certain track with
all our baggage at midnight, there to take a train
for Port Tampa. At the appointed time we turned
up, but the train did not. The men slept heavily,

To Cuba 59

while Wood and I and various other officers wan-
dered about in search of information which no one
could give. We now and then came across a Briga-
dier-General, or even a Major-General; but nobody
knew anything. Some regiments got aboard the
trains and some did not, but as none of the trains
started this made little difference. At three o'clock
we received orders to march over to an entirely dif-
ferent track, and away we went. No train appeared
on this track either; but at six o'clock some coal-
cars came by, and these we seized. By various argu-
ments we persuaded the engineer in charge of the
train to back us down the nine miles to Port Tampa,
where we arrived covered with coal-dust, but with
all our belongings.

The railway tracks ran out on the quay, and the
transports, which had been anchored in midstream,
were gradually being brought up alongside the quay
and loaded. The trains were unloading wherever
they happened to be, no attention whatever being
paid to the possible position of the transport on
which the soldiers were to go. Colonel Wood and
I jumped off and started on a hunt, which soon con-
vinced us that we had our work cut out if we were to
get a transport at all. From the highest General
down, nobody could tell us where to go to find out
what transport we were to have. At last we were in-
formed that we were to hunt up the depot quarter-

60 The Rough Riders

master, Colonel Humphrey. We found his office,
where his assistant informed us that he didn't know
where the Colonel was, but believed him to be asleep
upon one of the transports. This seemed odd at such
a time; but so many of the methods in vogue were
odd, that we were quite prepared to accept it as a
fact. However, it proved not to be such, but for
an hour Colonel Humphrey might just as well have
been asleep, as nobody knew where he was and no-
body could find him, and the quay was crammed with
some ten thousand men, most of whom were work-
ing at cross purposes.

At last, however, after over an hour's industrious
and rapid search through this swarming ant-heap of
humanity, Wood and I, who had separated, found
Colonel Humphrey at nearly the same time and were
allotted a transport — the Yucatan. She was out in
midstream, so Wood seized a stray launch and
boarded her. At the same time I happened to find
out that she had previously been allotted to two
other regiments — the Second Regular Infantry and
the Seventy-first New York Volunteers, which lat-
ter regiment alone contained more men than could
be put aboard her. Accordingly, I ran at full speed
to our train; and leaving a strong guard with the
baggage, I double-quicked the uest of the regiment
up to the boat, just in time to board her as she came
into the quay, and then to hold her against the Sec-

To Cuba 6 1

ond Regulars and the Seventy-first, who had arrived
a little too late, being a shade less ready than we
were in the matter of individual initiative. There
was a good deal of expostulation, but we had pos-
session ; and as the ship could not contain half of the
men who had been told to go aboard her, the Sev-
enty-first went away, as did all but four companies
of the Second. These latter we took aboard. Mean-
while a General had caused our train to be unloaded
at the end of the quay furthest from where the ship
was; and the hungry, tired men spent most of the
day in the labor of bringing down their baggage and
the food and ammunition.

The officers' horses were on another boat, my own
being accompanied by my colored body-servant,
Marshall, the most faithful and loyal of men, him-
self an old soldier of the Ninth Cavalry. Marshall
had been in Indian campaigns, and he christened
my larger horse "Rain-in-the-Face," while the other,
a pony, went by the name of "Texas."

By the time that night fell, and our transport
pulled off and anchored in midstream, we felt we
had spent thirty-six tolerably active hours. The
transport was overloaded, the men being packed like
sardines, not only below but upon the decks ; so that
at night it was only possible to walk about by con-
tinually stepping over the bodies of the sleepers.
The travel rations which had been issued to the men

62 The Rough Riders

for the voyage were not sufficient, because the meat
was very bad indeed ; and when a ration consists of
only four or five items, which taken together just
meet the requirements of a strong and healthy man,
the loss of one item is a serious thing. If we had
been given canned cornbeef we would have been all
right, but instead of this the soldiers were issued
horrible stuff called "canned fresh beef." There
was no salt in it. At the best it was stringy and
tasteless ; at the worst it was nauseating. Not one-
fourth of it was. ever eaten at all, even when the men
became very hungry. There were no facilities for
the men to cook anything. There was no ice for
them; the water was not good; and they had no
fresh meat or fresh vegetables.

However, all these things seemed of small impor-
tance compared with the fact that we were really
embarked, and were with the first expedition to leave
our shores. But by next morning came the news
that the order to sail had been countermanded, and
that we were to stay where we were for the time
being. What this meant none of us could under-
stand. It turned out later to be due to the blunder
of a naval officer who mistook some of our vessels
for Spaniards, and by his report caused consterna-
tion in Washington, until by vigorous scouting on
the part of our other ships the illusion was dispelled.

Meanwhile the troopships, packed tight with their

To Cuba 63

living freight, sweltered in the burning heat of
Tampa Harbor. There was nothing whatever for
the men to do, space being too cramped for amuse-
ment or for more drill than was implied in the man-
ual of arms. In this we drilled them assiduously,
and we also continued to hold school for both the
officers and "the non-commissioned officers. Each
troop commander was regarded as responsible for
his own non-commissioned officers, and Wood or
myself simply dropped in to superintend, just as we
did with the manual at arms. In the officers' school
Captain Capron was the special instructor, and a
most admirable one he was.

The heat, the steaming discomfort, and the con-
finement, together with the forced inaction, were
very irksome; but every one made the best of it,
and there was little or no grumbling even among
the men. All, from the highest to the lowest, were
bent upon perfecting themselves according to their
slender opportunities. Every book of tactics in the
regiment was in use from morning until night, and
the officers and non-commissioned officers were al-
ways studying the problems presented at the schools.
About the only amusement was bathing over the
side, in which we indulged both in the morning and
evening. Many of the men from the Far West had
never seen the ocean. One of them who knew how
to swim was much interested in finding that the

64 The Rough Riders

ocean water was not drinkable. Another, who had
never in his life before seen any water more exten-
sive than the head-stream of the Rio Grande, met
with an accident later in the voyage; that is, his hat
blew away while we were in mid-ocean, and I heard
him explaining the accident to a friend in the fol-
lowing words : "Oh-o-h, Jim ! Ma hat blew into the
creek!" So we lay for nearly a week, the vessels
swinging around on their anchor chains, while the
hot water of the bay flowed to and fro around them
and the sun burned overhead.

At last, on the evening of June I3th, we received
the welcome order to start. Ship after ship weighed
anchor and went slowly ahead under half-steam for
the distant mouth of the harbor, the bands playing,
the flags flying, the rigging black with the clustered
soldiers, cheering and shouting to those left behind
on the quay and to their fellows on the other ships.
The channel was very tortuous; and we anchored
before we had gone far down it, after coming within
an ace of a bad collision with another transport.
The next morning we were all again under way, and
in the afternoon the great fleet steamed southeast
until Tampa Light sank in the distance.

For the next six days we sailed steadily south-
ward and eastward through the wonderful sapphire
seas of the West Indies. The thirty odd transports
moved in long parallel lines, while ahead and behind

To Cuba 65

and on their flanks the gray hulls of the warships
surged through the blue water. We had every va-
riety of craft to guard us, from the mighty battleship
and swift cruiser to the converted yachts and the
frail, venomous-looking torpedo boats. The war-
ships watched with ceaseless vigilance by day and
night. When a sail of any kind appeared, instantly
one of our guardians steamed toward it. Ordi-
narily, the torpedo boats were towed. Once a strange
ship steamed up too close, and instantly the nearest
torpedo boat was slipped like a greyhound from the
leash, and sped across the water toward it ; but the
stranger proved harmless, and the swift, delicate,
death-fraught craft returned again.

It was very pleasant, sailing southward through
the tropic seas toward the unknown. We knew not
whither we were bound, nor what we were to do;
but we believed that the nearing future held for us
many chances of death and hardship, of honor and
renown. If we failed, we would share the fate of all
who fail ; but we were sure that we would win, that
we should score the first great triumph in a mighty
world-movement. At night we looked at the new
stars, and hailed the Southern Cross when at last we
raised it above the horizon. In the daytime we
drilled, and in the evening we held officers' school ;
but there was much time when we had little to do,
save to scan the wonderful blue sea and watch the

66 The Rough Riders

flying -fish. Toward evening, when the officers clus-
tered together on the forward bridge, the band of the
Second Infantry played tune after tune, until on our
quarter the glorious sun sank in the red west, and,
one by one, the lights blazed out on troopship and
warship for miles ahead and astern, as they steamed
onward through the brilliant tropic night.

The men on the ship were young and strong, eager
to face what lay hidden before them, eager for ad-
venture where risk was the price of gain. Some-
times they talked of what they might do in the
future, and wondered whether we were to attack
Santiago or Porto Rico. At other times, as they
lounged in groups, they told stories of their past
— stories of the mining camps and the cattle ranges,
of hunting bear and deer, of war-trails against the
Indians, of lawless deeds of violence and the lawful
violence by which they were avenged, of brawls in
saloons, of shrewd deals in cattle and sheep, of suc-
cessful quest for the precious metals; stories of
brutal wrong and brutal appetite, melancholy love-
tales, and memories of nameless heroes — masters of
men and tamers of horses.

The officers, too, had many strange experiences to
relate; none, not even Llewellen or O'Neill, had
been through what was better worth telling, or
could tell it better, than Capron. He had spent
years among the Apaches, the wildest and fiercest

To Cuba 67

of tribes, and again and again had owed his life
to his own cool judgment and extraordinary per-
sonal prowess. He knew the sign language, famil-
iar to all the Indians of the mountains and the
plains; and it was curious to find that the signs for
different animals, for water, for sleep and death,
which he knew from holding intercourse with the
tribes of the Southeast, were exactly like those
which I had picked up on my occasional hunting
or trading trips among the Sioux and Mandans of
the North. He was a great rifle shot and wolf
hunter, and had many tales to tell of the deeds of
gallant hounds and the feats of famous horses. He
had handled his Indian scouts and dealt with the
"bronco" Indians, the renegades from the tribes,
in circumstances of extreme peril; for he had seen
the sullen, moody Apaches when they suddenly went
crazy with wolfish blood-lust, and in their madness
wished to kill whomever was nearest. He knew, so
far as white man could know, their ways of thought,
and how to humor and divert them when on the
brink of some dangerous outbreak. Capron's train-
ing and temper fitted him to do great work in war ;
and he looked forward with eager confidence to what
the future held, for he was sure that for him it held
either triumph or death. Death was the prize he
drew.

Most of the men had simple souls. They could

68 The Rough Riders

relate facts, but they said very little about what
they dimly felt. Bucky O'Neill, however, the iron-
nerved, iron- willed fighter from Arizona, the Sheriff
whose name was a byword of terror to every wrong-
doer, white or red, the gambler who with unmoved
face would stake and lose every dollar he had in the
world — he, alone among his comrades, was a vision-
ary, an articulate emotionalist. He was very quiet
about it, never talking unless he was sure of his
listener; but at night, when we leaned on the rail-
ing to look at the Southern Cross, he was less apt to
tell tales of his hard and stormy past than he was to
speak of the mysteries which lie behind courage,
and fear, and love, behind animal hatred, and ani-
mal lust for the pleasures that have tangible shape.
He had keenly enjoyed life, and he could breast its
turbulent torrent as few men could; he was a prac-
tical man, who knew how to wrest personal success
from adverse forces, among money-makers, poli-
ticians, and desperadoes alike; yet, down at bottom,
what seemed to interest him most was the philosophy
of life itself, of our understanding of it, and of the
limitations set to that understanding. But he was
as far as possible from being a mere dreamer of
dreams. A stanchly loyal and generous friend, he
was also exceedingly ambitious on his own account.
If, by risking his life, no matter how great the risk,
he could gain high military distinction, he was bent

To Cuba 69

on gaining it. He had taken so many chances when
death lay on the hazard, that he felt the odds were
now against him ; but, said he, "Who would not risk
his life for a star?" Had he lived, and had the war
lasted, he would surely have won the eagle, if not
the star.

We had a good deal of trouble with the trans-
ports, chiefly because they were not under the con-
trol of the navy. One of them was towing a
schooner, and another a scow ; both, of course, kept
lagging behind. Finally, when we had gone nearly
the length of Cuba, the transport with the schooner
sagged very far behind, and then our wretched trans-
port was directed by General Shafter to fall out of
line and keep her company. Of course, we executed
the order, greatly to the wrath of Captain Clover,
who, in the gunboat Bancroft, had charge of the rear
of the column — for we could be of no earthly use to
the other transport, and by our presence simply
added just so much to Captain Clover's anxiety, as
he had two transports to protect instead of one.
Next morning the rest of the convoy were out of
sight, but we reached them just as they finally
turned.

Until this we had steamed with the trade-wind
blowing steadily in our faces ; but once we were well
to eastward of Cuba, we ran southwest with the
wind behind on our quarter, and we all knew that

70 The Rough Riders

our destination was Santiago. On the morning of
the 2Oth we were close to the Cuban coast. . High
mountains rose almost from the water's edge, look-
ing huge and barren across the sea. We sped on-
ward past Guantanamo Bay, where we saw the little
picket-ships of the fleet; and in the afternoon we
sighted Santiago Harbor, with the great warships
standing off and on in front of it, gray and sullen in
their war-paint.

All next day we rolled and wallowed in the sea-
way, waiting until a decision was reached as to
where we should land. On the morning of June
22d the welcome order for landing came.

We did the landing as we had done everything
else — tbat is, in a scramble, each commander shift-
ing for himself. The port at which we landed was
called Daiquiri, a squalid little village where there
had been a railway and iron-works. There were no
facilities for landing, and the fleet did not have a
quarter the number of boats it should have had for
the purpose. All we could do was to stand in with
the transports as close as possible, and then row
ashore in our own few boats and the boats of the
warships. Luck favored our regiment. My former
naval aide, while I was Assistant Secretary of the
Navy, Lieutenant Sharp, was in command of the
Vixen, a converted yacht; and everything being
managed on the go-as-you-please principle, he

To Cuba 11

steamed by us and offered to help put us ashore.
Of course, we jumped at the chance. Wood and I
boarded the Vixen, and there we got Lieutenant
Sharp's black Cuban pilot, who told us he could
take our transport right in to within a few hundred
yards of the land. Accordingly, we put him aboard ;
and in he brought her, gaining at least a mile and a
half by the manoeuvre. The other transports fol-
lowed ; but we had our berth, and were all right.

There was plenty of excitement to the landing.
In the first place, the smaller war vessels shelled
Daiquiri, so as to dislodge any Spaniards who might
be lurking in the neighborhood, and also shelled
other places along the coast, to keep the enemy puz-
zled as to our intentions. Then the surf was high,
and the landing difficult ; so that the task of getting
the men, the ammunition, and provisions ashore was
not easy. Each man carried three days' field rations
and a hundred rounds of ammunition. Our regi-
ment had accumulated two rapid-fire Colt automatic
guns, the gift of Stevens, Kane, Tiffany, and one
or two others of the New York men, and also a
dynamite gun, under the immediate charge of Ser-
geant Borrowe. To get these, and especially the
last, ashore, involved no little work and hazard.
Meanwhile, from another transport, our horses were
being landed, together with the mules, by the simple
process of throwing them overboard and letting

72 The Rough Riders

them swim ashore, if they could. Both of Wood's
got safely through. One of mine was drowned.
The other, little Texas, got ashore all right. While
I was superintending the landing at the ruined dock,
with Bucky O'Neill, a boatful of colored infantry
soldiers capsized, and two of the men went to the
bottom ; Bucky O'Neill plunging in, in full uniform,
to save them, but in vain.

However, by the late afternoon we had all our
men, with what ammunition and provisions they
could themselves carry, landed, and were ready for
anything that might turn up.

Ill

GENERAL YOUNG'S FIGHT AT LAS GUASIMAS

JUST before leaving Tampa we had been bri-
gaded with the First (white) and Tenth (col-
ored) Regular Cavalry under Brigadier-General S.
B. M. Young. We were the Second Brigade, the
First Brigade consisting of the Third and Sixth
(white), and the Ninth (colored) Regular Cavalry
under Brigadier-General Sumner. The two brigades
of the cavalry division were under Major-General
Joseph Wheeler, the gallant old Confederate cav-
alry commander.

General Young was — and is — as fine a type of
the American fighting soldier as a man can hope
to see. He had been in command, as Colonel, of
the Yellowstone National Park, and I had seen a
good deal of him in connection therewith, as I was
President of the Boone and Crockett Club, an or-
ganization devoted to hunting big game, to its
preservation, and to forest preservation. During
the preceding winter, while he was in Washington,
he had lunched with me at the Metropolitan Club,
Wood being one of the other guests. Of course,
VOL. XL— D (73)

74 The Rough Riders

we talked of the war, which all of us present be-
lieved to be impending, and Wood and I told him
we were going to make every effort to get in, some-
how ; and he answered that we must be sure to get
into his brigade, if he had one, and he would guaran-
tee to show us fighting. None of us forgot the con-
versation. As soon as our regiment was raised Gen-
eral Young applied for it to be put in his brigade.
We were put in ; and he made his word good ; for he
fought and won the first fight on Cuban soil.

Yet, even though under him, we should not have
been in this fight at all if we had not taken advan-
tage of the chance to disembark among the first
troops, and if it had not been for Wood's energy in
pushing our regiment to the front.
, On landing we spent some active hours in march-
ing our men a quarter of a mile or so inland, as boat-
load by boat-load they disembarked. Meanwhile
one of the men, Knoblauch, a New Yorker, who was
a great athlete and a champion swimmer, by diving
in the surf off the dock, recovered most of the rifles
which had been lost when the boat-load of colored
cavalry capsized. The country would have offered
very great difficulties to an attacking force had
there been resistance. It was little but a mass of
rugged and precipitous hills, covered for the most
part by dense jungle. Five hundred resolute men
could have prevented the disembarkation at very lit-

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 75

tie cost to themselves. There had been about that
number of Spaniards at Daiquiri that morning, but
they had fled even before the ships began shelling.
In their place we found hundreds of Cuban insur-
gents, a crew of as utter tatterdemalions as human
eyes ever looked on, armed with every kind of rifle
in all stages of dilapidation. It was evident, at a
glance, that they would be no use in serious fighting,
but it was hoped that they might be of service in
scouting. From a variety of causes, however, they
turned out to be nearly useless, even for this pur-
pose, so far as the Santiago campaign was con-
cerned.

We were camped on a dusty, brush-covered flat,
with jungle on one side, and on the other a shallow,
fetid pool fringed with palm-trees. Huge land-crabs
scuttled noisily through the underbrush, exciting
much interest among the men. Camping was a
simple matter, as each man carried all he had, and
the officers had nothing: I took a light mackintosh
and a toothbrush. Fortunately, that night it did not
rain; and from the palm-leaves we built shelters
from the sun.

General Lawton, a tall, fine-looking man, had
taken the advance. A thorough soldier, he at once
established outposts and pushed reconnoitring parties
ahead on the trails. He had as little baggage as the
rest of us. Our own Brigade-Commander, General

?6 The Rough Riders

Young, had exactly the same impedimenta that I
had, namely, a mackintosh and a toothbrush.

Next morning we were hard at work trying to
get the stuff unloaded from the ship, and succeeded
in getting most of it ashore, but were utterly un-
able to get transportation for anything but a very
small quantity. The great shortcoming throughout
the campaign was the utterly inadequate transpor-
tation. If we had been allowed to take our mule-
train, we could have kept the whole cavalry division
supplied.

In the afternoon word came to us to march.
General Wheeler, a regular game-cock, was as anx-
ious as Lawton to get first blood, and he was bent
upon- putting the cavalry division to the front as
quickly as possible. Lawton's advance-guard was
in touch with the Spaniards, and there had been a
skirmish between the latter and some Cubans, who
were repulsed. General Wheeler made a reconnois-
sance in person, found out where the enemy was,
and directed General Young to take our brigade and
move forward so as to strike him next morning.
He had the power to do this, as when General Shaf-
ter was afloat he had command ashore.

I had succeeded in finding Texas, my surviving
horse, much the worse for his fortnight on the trans-
port and his experience in getting off, but still able
to carry me.

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 77

It was mid-afternoon and the tropic sun was
beating fiercely down when Colonel Wood started
our regiment — the First and Tenth Cavalry and
some of the infantry regiments having already
marched. Colonel Wopd himself rode in advance,
while I led my squadron, and Major Brodie fol-
lowed with his. It was a hard march, the hilly
jungle trail being so narrow that often we had to
go in single file. We marched fast, for Wood was
bound to get us ahead of the other regiments, so as
to be sure of our place in the body that struck the
enemy next morning. If it had not been for his
energy in pushing forward, we should certainly have
missed the fight. As it was, we did not halt until
we were at the extreme front.

The men were not in very good shape for march-
ing, and moreover they were really horsemen, the
majority being cowboys who had "never done much
walking. The heat was intense and their burdens
very heavy. Yet there was very little straggling.
Whenever we halted they instantly took off their
packs and threw themselves on their backs. Then
at the word to start they would spring into place
again. The captains and lieutenants tramped along,
encouraging the men by example and by word. A
good part of the time I was by Captain Llewellen,
and was greatly pleased to see the way in which
he kept his men up to their work. He never pitied

78 The Rough Riders

or coddled his troopers, but he always looked after
them. He helped them whenever he could, and
took rather more than his full share of hardship
and danger, so that his men naturally followed him
with entire devotion. Jack Greenway was under
him as lieutenant, and to him the entire march
was nothing but an enjoyable outing, the chance
of fight on the morrow simply adding the needed
spice of excitement.

It was long after nightfall when we tramped
through the darkness into the squalid coast hamlet
of Siboney. As usual when we made a night camp,
we simply drew the men up in column of troops,
and then let each man lie down where he was.
Black thunder-clouds were gathering. Before they
broke the fires were made and the men cooked
their coffee and pork, some frying the hard-tack
with the pork. The officers, of course, fared just
as the men did. Hardly had we finished eating
when the rain came, a regular tropic downpour.
We sat about, sheltering ourselves as best we could,
for the hour or two it lasted; then the fires were
relighted and we closed around them, the men tak-
ing off their wet things to dry them, so far as pos-
sible, by the blaze.

Wood had gone off to see General Young, as
General Wheeler had instructed General Young to
hit the Spaniards, who were about four miles away,

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 79

as soon after daybreak as possible. Meanwhile I
strolled over to Captain Capron's troop. He and
I, with his two lieutenants, Day and Thomas, stood
around the fire, together with two or three non-
commissioned officers and privates; among the lat-
ter were Sergeant Hamilton Fish and Trooper El-
liot Cowdin, both of New York. Cowdin, together
with two other troopers, Harry Thorpe and Munro
Ferguson, had been on my Oyster Bay Polo Team
some years before. Hamilton Fish had already
shown himself one of the best non-commissioned
officers we had. A huge fellow, of enormous
strength and endurance and dauntless courage, he
took naturally to a soldier's life. He never com-
plained and never shirked any duty of any kind,
while his power over his men was great. So good
a sergeant had he made that Captain Capron, keen
to get the best men under him, took him when he
left Tampa — for Fish's troop remained behind. As
we stood around the flickering blaze that night I
caught myself admiring the splendid bodily vigor
of Capron and Fish — the captain and the sergeant.
Their frames seemed of steel, to withstand all fa-
tigue; they were flushed with health; in their eyes
shone high resolve and fiery desire. Two finer types
of the fighting man, two better representatives of the
American soldier, there were not in the whole army.
Capron was going over his plans for the fight when

8o The Rough Riders

we should meet the Spaniards on the morrow, Fish
occasionally asking a question. They were both
filled with eager longing to show their mettle, and
both were rightly confident that if they lived they
would win honorable renown and would rise high
in their chosen profession. Within twelve hours
they both were dead.

I had lain down when toward midnight Wood
returned. He had gone over the whole plan with
General Young. We were to start by sunrise
toward Santiago, General Young taking four troops
of the Tenth and four troops of the First up the
road which led through the valley; while Colonel
Wood was to lead our eight troops along a hill-trail
to the left, which joined the valley road about four
miles on, at a point where the road went over a
spur of the mountain chain and from thence went
down hill toward Santiago. The Spaniards had
their lines at the junction of the road and the trail.

Before describing our part in the fight, it is nec-
essary to say a word about General Young's share,
for, of course, the whole fight was under his di-
rection, and the fight on the right wing under his
immediate supervision. General Young had obtained
from General Castillo, the commander of the Cuban
forces, a full description of the country in front.
General Castillo promised Young the aid of eight
hundred Cubans, if he made a reconnaissance in force

Young's Fight at Las Guasipias 81

to find out exactly what the Spanish strength was.
This promised aid did not, however, materialize,
the Cubans, who had been beaten back by the Span-
iards the day before, not appearing on the firing-
line until the fight was over.

General Young had in his immediate command
a squadron of the First Regular Cavalry, two hun-
dred and forty-four strong, under the command of
Major Bell, and a squadron of the Tenth Regular
Cavalry, two hundred and twenty strong, under the
command of Major Norvell. He also had two
Hotchkiss mountain guns, under Captain Watson
of the Tenth. He started at a quarter before six
in the morning, accompanied by Captain A. L. Mills,
as aide. It was at half-past seven that Captain
Mills, with a patrol of two men in advance, dis-
covered the Spaniards as they lay across where the
two roads came together, some of them in pits,
others simply lying in the heavy jungle, while on
their extreme right they occupied a big ranch.
Where General Young struck them they held a high
ridge a little to the left of his front, this ridge being
separated by a deep ravine from the hill-trail still
further to the left, down which the Rough Riders
were advancing. That is, their forces occupied a
range of high hills in the form of an obtuse angle,
the salient being toward the space between the
American forces, while there were advance parties

82 The Rough Riders

along both roads. There were stone breastworks
flanked by block-houses on that part of the ridge
where the two trails came together. The place was
called Las Guasimas, from trees of that name in
the neighborhood.

General Young, who was riding a mule, carefully
examined the Spanish position in person. He or-
dered the canteens of the troops to be filled, placed
the Hotchkiss battery in concealment about nine
hundred yards from the Spanish lines, and then de-
ployed the white regulars, with the colored regulars
in support, having sent a Cuban guide to try to
find Colonel Wood and warn him. He did not at-
tack immediately, because he knew that Colonel
Wood, having a more difficult route, would require
a longer time to reach the position. During the de-
lay General Wheeler arrived; he had been up since
long before dawn, to see that everything went well.
Young informed him of the dispositions and plan
of attack he had made. General Wheeler approved
of them, and with excellent judgment left General
Young a free hand to fight his battle.

So, about eight o'clock Young began the fight
with his Hotchkiss guns, he himself being up on
the firing-line. No sooner had the Hotchkiss one-
pounders opened than the Spaniards opened fire in
return, most of the time firing by volleys executed
in perfect time, almost as on parade. They had

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 83

a couple of light guns, which our people thought
were quick firers. The denseness of the jungle, and
the fact that they used absolutely smokeless powder,
made it exceedingly difficult to place exactly where
they were, and almost immediately Young, who al-
ways liked to get as close as possible to his enemy,
began to push his troops forward. They were de-
ployed on both sides of the road in such thick jungle
that it was only here and there that they could pos-
sibly see ahead, and some confusion, of course, en-
sued, the support gradually getting mixed with the
advance. Captain Beck took A Troop of the Tenth
in on the left, next Captain Galbraith's troops of
the First; two other troops of the Tenth were on
the extreme right. Through the jungle ran wire
fences here and there, and as the troops got to the
ridge they encountered precipitous heights. They
were led most gallantly, as American regular officers
always lead their men ; and the men followed their
leaders with the splendid courage always shown by
the American regular soldier. There was not a
single straggler among them, and in not one instance
was an attempt made by any trooper to fall out in
order to assist the wounded or carry back the dead,
while so cool were they and so perfect their fire
discipline, that in the entire engagement the expen-
diture of ammunition was not over ten rounds per
man. Major Bell, who commanded the squadron,

84 The Rough Riders

had his leg broken by a shot as he was leading his
men. Captain Wainwright succeeded to the com-
mand of the squadron. Captain Knox was shot
in the abdomen. He continued for some time giving
orders to his troops, and refused to allow a man
in the firing-line to assist him to the rear. His First
Lieutenant, Byram, was himself shot, but continued
to lead his men until the wound and the heat over-
came him and he fell in a faint. The advance was
pushed forward under General Young's eye with the
utmost energy, until the enemy's voices could be
heard in the intrenchments. The Spaniards kept up
a very heavy firing, but the regulars would not be
denied, and as they climbed the ridges the Spaniards
broke and fled.

Meanwhile, at six o'clock, the Rough Riders be-
gan their advance. We first had to climb a very
steep hill. Many of the men, footsore and weary
from their march of the preceding day, found the
pace up this hill too hard, and either dropped their
bundles or fell out of line, with the result that we
went into action with less than five hundred men —
as, in addition to the stragglers, a detachment had
been left to guard the baggage on shore. At the
time I was rather inclined to grumble to myself
about Wood setting so fast a pace, but when the
fight began I realized that it had been absolutely
necessary, as otherwise we should have arrived late

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 85

and the regulars would have had very hard work
indeed. ^Tiffany, by great exertions, had corraled a
couple of mules and was using them to transport the
Colt automatic guns in the rear of the regiment.
The dynamite gun was not with us, as mules for it
could not be obtained in time.

Captain Capron's troop was in the lead, it being
chosen for the most responsible and dangerous po-
sition because of Capron's capacity. Four men,
headed by Sergeant Hamilton Fish, went first; a
support of twenty men followed some distance be-
hind; and then came Capron and the rest of his
troop, followed by Wood, with whom General
Young had sent Lieutenants Smedburg and Rivers
as aides. I rode close behind, at the head of the
other three troops of my squadron, and then came
Brodie at the head of his squadron. The trail was
so narrow that for the most part the men marched
in single file, and it was bordered by dense, tangled
jungle, through which a man could with difficulty
force his way; so that to put out flankejs was im-
possible, for they could not possibly have kept up
with the march of the column. Every man had his
canteen full. There was a Cuban guide at the head
of the column, but he ran away as soon as the fight-
ing began. There were also with us, at the head
of the column, two men who did not run away, who,
though non-combatants — newspaper correspondents

86 The Rough Riders

—showed as much gallantry as any soldier in the
field. They were Edward Marshall and Richard
Harding Davis.

After reaching the top of the hill the walk was
very pleasant. Now and then we came to glades
or rounded hill-shoulders, whence we could look off
for some distance. The tropical forest was very
beautiful, and it was a delight to see the strange
trees, the splendid royal palms and a tree which
looked like a flat-topped acacia, and which was cov-
ered with a mass of brilliant scarlet flowers. We
heard many bird-notes, too, the cooing of doves and
the call of a great brush cuckoo. Afterward we
found that the Spanish guerillas imitated these bird-
calls, but the sounds we heard that morning, as we
advanced through the tropic forest, were from birds,
not guerillas, until we came right up to the Span-
ish lines. It was very beautiful and very peaceful,
and it seemed more as if we were off on some hunt-
ing excursion than as if we were about to go into
a sharp and bloody little fight.

Of course, we accommodated our movements to
those of the men in front. After marching for some-
what over an hour, we suddenly came to a halt, and
immediately afterward Colonel Wood sent word
down the line that the advance guard had come
upon a Spanish outpost. Then the order was passed
to fill the magazines, which was done.

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 87

The men were totally unconcerned, and I do not
think they realized that any fighting was at hand;
at any rate, I could hear the group nearest me dis-
cussing in low murmurs, not the Spaniards, but the
conduct of a certain cow-puncher in quitting work
on a ranch and starting a saloon in some New
Mexican town. In another minute, however, Wood
sent me orders to deploy three troops to the right
of the trail, and to advance when we became en-
gaged; while, at the same time, the other troops,
under Major Brodie, were deployed to the left of the
trail where the ground was more open than else-
where— one troop being held in reserve in the cen-
tre, besides the reserves on each wing. Later all
the reserves were put into the firing-line.

To the right the jungle was quite thick, and we
had barely begun to deploy when a crash in front
announced that the fight was on. It was evidently
very hot, and L Troop had its hands full; so I
hurried my men up abreast of them. So thick was
the jungle that it was very difficult to keep together,
especially when there was no time for delay, and
while I got up Llewellen's troops and Kane's pla-
toon of K Troop, the rest of K Troop under Cap-
tain Jenkins which, with Bucky O'Neill's troop,
made up the right wing, were behind, and it was
some time before they got into the fight at all.

Meanwhile I had gone forward with Llewellen,

88 The Rough Riders

Greenway, Kane and their troopers until we came
out on a kind of shoulder, jutting over a ravine,
which separated us from a great ridge on our right.
It was on this ridge that the Spaniards had some
of their intrenchments, and it was just beyond this
ridge that the Valley Road led, up which the regu-
lars were at that very time pushing their attack;
but, of course, at the moment we knew nothing of
this. The effect of the smokeless powder was re-
markable. The air seemed full of the rustling sound
of the Mauser bullets, for the Spaniards knew the
trails by which we were advancing, and opened
heavily on our position. Moreover, as we advanced
we were, of course, exposed, and they could see us
and fire. But they themselves were entirely in-
visible. The jungle covered everything, and not
the faintest trace of smoke was to be seen in any
direction to indicate from whence the bullets came.
It was some time before the men. fired; Llewellen,
Kane, and I anxiously studying the ground to see
where our opponents were, and utterly unable to
find out.

We could hear the faint reports of the Hotchkiss
guns and the reply of two Spanish guns, and the
Mauser bullets were singing through the trees over
our heads, making a noise like the humming of
telephone wires ; but exactly where they came from
we could not tell. The Spaniards were firing high

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 89

and for the most part by volleys, and their shooting
was not very good, which perhaps was not to be
wondered at, as they were a long way off. Grad-
ually, however, they began to get the range and oc-
casionally one of our men would crumple up. In
no case did the man make any outcry when hit,
seeming to take it as a matter of course; at the out-
side, making only such a remark as, "Well, I got it
that time." With hardly an exception, there was
no sign of flinching. I say with hardly an excep-
tion, for though I personally did not see an instance,
and though all the men at the front behaved excel-
lently, yet there were a very few men who lagged
behind and drifted back to the trail over which we
had come. The character of the fight put a premium
upon such conduct, and afforded a very severe test
for raw troops because the jungle was so dense
that as we advanced in open order, every man was,
from time to time, left almost alone and away from
the eyes of his officers. There was unlimited oppor-
tunity for dropping out without attracting notice,
while it was peculiarly hard to be exposed to the
fire of an unseen foe, and to see men dropping under
it, and yet to be for some time unable to return it,
and also to be entirely ignorant of what was going
on in any other part of the field.

It was Richard Harding Davis who gave us our
first opportunity to shoot back with effect. He was

90 The Rough Riders

behaving precisely like my officers, being on the
extreme front of the line, and taking every oppor-
tunity to study with his glasses the ground where
we thought the Spaniards were. I had tried some
volley firing at points where I rather doubtfully
believed the Spaniards to be, but had stopped firing
and was myself studying the jungle-covered moun-
tain ahead with my glasses, when Davis suddenly
said: "There they are, Colonel; look over there; I
can see their hats near that glade," pointing across
the valley to our right. In a minute I, too, made
out the hats, and then pointed them out to three or
four of our best shots, giving them my estimate of
the range. For a minute or two no result followed,
and I kept raising the range, at the same time get-
ting more men on the firing-line. Then, evidently,
the shots told, for the Spaniards suddenly sprang
out of the cover through which we had seen their
hats, and ran to another spot; and we could now
make out a large number of them.

I accordingly got all of my men up in line and
began quick firing. In a very few minutes our bul-
lets began to do damage, for the Spaniards retreat-
ed to the left into the jungle, and we lost sight of
them. At the same moment a big body of men who,
it afterward turned out, were Spaniards, came in
sight along the glade, following the retreat of those
whom we had just driven from the trenches. We

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 91

supposed that there was a large force of Cubans
with General Young, not being aware that these
Cubans had failed to make their appearance, and
as it was impossible to tell the Cubans from the
Spaniards, and as we could not decide whether
these were Cubans following the Spaniards we had
put to flight, or merely another troop of Spaniards
retreating after the first (which was really the case)
we dared not fire, and in a minute they had passed
the glade and were out of sight.

At every halt we took advantage of the cover,
sinking down behind any mound, bush, or tree-
trunk in the neighborhood. The trees, of course,
furnished no protection from the Mauser bullets.
Once I was standing behind a large palm with my
head out to one side, very fortunately; for a bullet
passed through the palm, filling my left eye and ear
with the dust and splinters.

No man was allowed to drop out to help the
wounded. It was hard to leave them there in the
jungle, where they might not be found again until
the vultures and the land-crabs came, but war is a
grim game and there was no choice. One of the
men shot was Harry Heffner of G Troop, who
was mortally wounded through the hips. He fell
without uttering a sound, and two of his compan-
ions dragged him behind a tree. Here he propped
himself up and asked to be given his canteen and

9* The Rough Riders

his rifle, which I handed to him. He then again
began shooting, and continued loading and firing
until the line moved forward and we left him
alone, dying in the gloomy shade. When we found
him again, after the fight, he was dead.

At one time, as I was out of touch with that part
of my wing commanded by Jenkins and O'Neill, I
sent Greenway, with Sergeant Russell, a New York-
er, and trooper Rowland, a New Mexican cow-
puncher, down in the valley to find out where they
were. To do this the three had to expose them-
selves to a very severe fire, but they were not men to
whom this mattered. Russell was killed; the other
two returned and reported to me the position of
Jenkins and O'Neill. They then resumed their
places on the firing-line. After a while I noticed
blood coming out of Rowland's side and discovered
that he had been shot, although he did not seem to
be taking any notice of it. He said the wound was
only slight, but as I saw he had broken a rib, I told
him to go to the rear to the hospital. After some
grumbling he went, but fifteen minutes later he was
back on the firing-line again and said he could not
find the hospital — which I doubted. However, I
then let him stay until the end of the fight.

After we had driven the Spaniards off from their
position to^our right, the firing seemed to die away
so far as we were concerned, for the bullets no

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 93

longer struck around us in such a storm as before,
though along the rest of the line the battle was as
brisk as ever. Soon we saw troops appearing across
the ravine, not very far from where we had seen the
Spaniards whom we had thought might be Cubans.
Again we dared not fire, and carefully studied the
new-comers with our glasses; and this time we
were right, for we recognized our own cavalry-men.
We were by no means sure that they recognized us,
however, and were anxious that they should, but
it was very difficult to find a clear spot in the jungle
from which to signal ; so Sergeant Lee of Troop K
climbed a tree and from its summit waved the troop
guidon. They waved their guidon back, and as
our right wing was now in touch with the regulars,
I left Jenkins and O'Neill to keep the connection,
and led Llewellen's troop back to the path to join
the rest of the regiment, which was evidently still
in the thick of the fight. I was still very much in
the dark as to where the main body of the Spanish
forces were, or exactly what lines the battle was
following, and was very uncertain what I ought to
do ; but I knew it could not be wrong to go forward,
and I thought I would find Wood and then see
what he wished me to do. I was in a mood to
cordially welcome guidance, for it was most be-
wildering to fight an enemy whom one so rarely
saw.

94 The Rough Riders

I had not seen Wood since the beginning of
the skirmish, when he hurried forward. When the
firing opened some of the men began to curse.
"Don't swear — shoot !" growled Wood, as he strode
along the path leading his horse, and everyone
laughed and became cool again. The Spanish out-
posts were very near our advance guard, and some
minutes of the hottest kind of firing followed before
they were driven back and slipped off through the
jungle to their main lines in the rear.

Here, at the very outset of our active service, we
suffered the loss of two as gallant men as ever wore
uniform. Sergeant Hamilton Fish at the extreme
front, while holding the point up to its work and
firing back where the Spanish advance guards lay,
was shot and instantly killed ; three of the men with
him were likewise hit. Captain Capron, leading the
advance guard in person, and displaying equal cour-
age and coolness in the way that he handled them,
was also struck, and died a few minutes afterward.
The command of the troop then devolved upon
the First Lieutenant, young Thomas. Like Capron,
Thomas was the fifth in line from father to son
who had served in the American army, though in
his case it was in the volunteer and not the regular
service; the four preceding generations had fur-
nished soldiers respectively to the Revolutionary
War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 95

Civil War. In a few minutes Thomas was shot
through the leg, and the command devolved upon
the Second Lieutenant, Day (a nephew of "Albe-
marle" Gushing, he who sunk the great Confederate
ram). Day, who proved himself to be one of our
most efficient officers, continued to handle the men
to the best possible advantage, and brought them
steadily forward. L. Troop was from the Indian
Territory. The whites, Indians, and half-breeds in
it all fought with equal courage. Captain McClin-
tock was hurried forward to its relief with his Troop
B of Arizona men. In a few minutes he was shot
through the leg and his place was taken by his First
Lieutenant, Wilcox, who handled his men in the
same soldierly manner that Day did.

Among the men who showed marked courage and
coolness was the tall color-sergeant, Wright; the
colors were shot through three times.

When I had led G Troop back to the 'trail I ran
ahead of them, passing the dead and wounded men
of L troop, passing young Fish as he lay with
glazed eyes under the rank tropic growth to one
side of the trail. When I came to the front I found
the men spread out in a very thin skirmish line,
advancing through comparatively open ground,
each man taking advantage of what cover he could,
while Wood strolled about leading his horse, Brodie
being close at hand. How Wood escaped being hit,

96 The Rough Ride(rs

I do not see, and still less how his horse escaped.
I had left mine at the beginning of the action, and
was only regretting that I had not left my sword
with it, as it kept getting between my legs when I
was tearing my way through the jungle. I never
wore it again in action. Lieutenant Rivers was with
Wood, also leading his horse. Smedburg had been
sent off on the by no means pleasant task of estab-
lishing communications with Young.

Very soon after I reached the front, Brodie was
hit, the bullet shattering one arm and whirling him
around as he stood. He had kept on the extreme
front all through, his presence and example keep-
ing his men entirely steady, and he at first refused
to go to the rear; but the wound was very painful,
and he became so faint that he had to "be sent.
Thereupon, Wood directed me to take charge of the
left wing in Brodie's place, and to bring it forward ;
so over I went.

I now had under me Captains Luna, Muller and
Houston, and I began to take them forward, well
spread out, through the high grass of a rather open
forest. I noticed Goodrich, of Houston's troop,
tramping along behind his men, absorbed in making
them keep at good intervals from one another and
fire slowly with careful aim. As I came close up
to the edge of the troop, he caught a glimpse of me,
mistook me for one of his own skirmishers who was

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 97

crowding in too closely, and called out, "Keep
your interval, sir; keep your interval, and go
forward !"

A perfect hail of bullets was sweeping over us as
we advanced. Once I got a glimpse of some Span-
iards, apparently retreating, far in the front, and
to our right, and we fired a couple of rounds after
them. Then I became convinced, after much anxi-
ous study, that we were being fired at from some
large red-tiled buildings, part of a ranch on our
front. Smokeless powder, and the thick cover in
our front, continued to puzzle us, and I more than
once consulted anxiously the officers as to the exact
whereabout of our opponents. I took a rifle from
a wounded man and began to try shots with it my-
self. It was very hot and the men were getting ex-
hausted, though at this particular time we were not
suffering heavily from bullets, the Spanish fire go-
ing high. As we advanced, the cover became a
little thicker and I lost touch of the main body under
Wood ; so I halted and we fired industriously at the
ranch buildings ahead of us, some five hundred
yards off. Then we heard cheering on the right,
and I supposed that this meant a charge on the part
of Wood's men, so I sprang up and ordered the men
to rush the buildings ahead of us. They came for-
ward with a will. There was a moment's heavy
firing from the Spaniards, which all went over our
VOL. XL— E

98 The Rough Riders

heads, and then it ceased entirely. When we ar-
rived at the buildings, panting and out of breath,
they contained nothing but heaps of empty car-
tridge-shells and two dead Spaniards, shot through
the head.

The country all around us was thickly forested,
so that it was very difficult to see any distance in
any direction. The firing had now died out, but I
was still entirely uncertain as to exactly what had
happened. I did not know whether the enemy had
been driven back or whether it was merely a lull
in the fight, and we might be attacked again; nor
did I know what had happened in any other part of
the line, while as I occupied the extreme left, I was
not sure whether or not my flank was in danger.
At this moment one of our men who had dropped
out, arrived with the information (fortunately
false) that Wood was dead. Of course, this meant
that the command devolved upon me, and I hastily
set about taking charge of the regiment. I had
been particularly struck by the coolness and cour-
age shown by Sergeants Dame and Mcllhenny, and
sent them out with small pickets to keep watch in
front and to the left of the left wing. I sent other
men to fill the canteens with water, and threw the
rest out in a long line in a disused sunken road,
which gave them cover, putting two or three wound-
ed men, who had hitherto kept up with the fighting-

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 99

line, and a dozen men who were suffering from
heat exhaustion — for the fighting and running
under that blazing sun through the thick dry jungle
was heart-breaking — into the ranch buildings.
Then I started over toward the main body, but to
my delight encountered Wood himself, who told
me the fight was over and the Spaniards had re-
treated. He also informed me that other troops
were just coming up. The first to appear was a
squadron of the Ninth Cavalry, under Major
Dimick, which had hurried up to get into the fight,
and was greatly disappointed to find it over. They
took post in front of our lines, so that our tired
men were able to get a rest, Captain McBlain, of
the Ninth, good-naturedly giving us some points
as to the best way to station our outposts. Then
General Chaffee, rather glum at not having been in
the fight himself, rode up at the head of some of his
infantry, and I marched my squadron back to where
the rest of the regiment was going into camp, just
where the two trails came together, and beyond —
that is, on the Santiago side of — the original Span-
ish lines.

The Rough Riders had lost eight men killed and
thirty-four wounded, aside from two or three who
were merely scratched and whose wounds were not
reported. The First Cavalry, white, lost seven men
killed and eight wounded; the Tenth Cavalry, col-

ioo The Rough Riders

ored, one man killed and ten wounded; so, out of
964 men engaged on our side, 16 were killed and 52
wounded. The Spaniards were under General
Rubin, with, as second in command, Colonel Al-
carez. They had two guns, and eleven companies
of about a hundred men each : three belonging to the
Porto Rico regiment, three to the San Fernandino,
two to the Talavero, two being so-called mobilized
companies from the mineral districts, and one a
company of engineers ; over twelve hundred men in
all, together with two guns.*

General Rubin reported that he had repujsed the
American attack, and Lieutenant Tejeiro states in
his book that General Rubin forced the Americans
to retreat, and enumerates the attacking force as
consisting of three regular regiments of infantry,
the Second Massachusetts and the Seventy-first

* See Lieutenant Miiller y Tejeiro, "Combates y Capitulacion
de Santiago de Cuba," page 136. The Lieutenant speaks as if
only one echelon, of seven companies and two guns, was en-
gaged on the 24th. The official report says distinctly, "Gen-
eral Rubin's column," which consisted of the companies de-
tailed above. By turning to page 146, where Lieutenant Te-
jeiro enumerates the strength of the various companies, it will
be seen that they averaged over no men apiece; this probably
does not include officers, and is probably an under-statement
anyhow. On page 261 he makes the Spanish loss at Las
Guasimas, which he calls Sevilla, 9 killed and 27 wounded.
Very possibly he includes only the Spanish regulars; two of
the Spaniards we slew, over on the left, were in brown, instead
of the light blue of the regulars, and were doubtless guerillas.

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 101

New York (not one of which fired a gun or were
anywhere near the battle), in addition to the six-
teen dismounted troops of cavalry. In other words,
as the five infantry regiments each included twelve
companies, he makes the attacking force consist of
just five times the actual amount. As for the "re-
pulse/' our line never went back ten yards in any
place, and the advance was practically steady;
while an hour and a half after the fight began we
were in complete possession of the entire Spanish
position, and their troops were fleeing in masses
down the road, our men being too exhausted to fol-
low them.

General Rubin also reports that he lost but seven
men killed. This is certainly incorrect, for Cap-
tain O'Neill and I went over the ground very
carefully and counted eleven dead Spaniards, all of
whom were actually buried by our burying squads.
There were probably two or three men whom we
missed, but I think that our official reports are in-
correct in stating that forty-two dead Spaniards
were found ; this being based upon reports in which
I think some of the Spanish dead were counted two
or three times. Indeed, I should doubt whether
their loss was as heavy as ours, for they were under
cover, while we advanced, often in the open, and
their main lines fled long before we could get to
close quarters. It is a very difficult country, and a

102 The Rough Riders

force of good soldiers resolutely handled could
have held the pass with ease against two or three
times their number. As it was, with a force half
of regulars and half of volunteers, we drove out a
superior number of Spanish regular troops, strong-
ly posted, without suffering a very heavy loss.
Although the Spanish fire was very heavy, it does
not seem to me it was very well directed; and
though they fired with great spirit while we merely
stood at a distance and fired at them, they did not
show much resolution, and when we advanced, al-
ways went back long before there was any chance
of our coming into contact with them. Our men
behaved very well indeed — white regulars, colored
regulars, and Rough Riders alike. The newspaper
press failed to do full justice to the white regulars,
in my opinion, from the simple reason that every-
body knew that they would fight, whereas there had
been a good deal of question as to how the Rough
Riders, who were volunteer troops, and the Tenth
Cavalry, who were colored, would behave; so there
was a tendency to exalt our deeds at the expense of
those of the First Regulars, whose courage and
good conduct were taken for granted. It was a
trying fight beyond what the losses show, for it is
hard upon raw soldiers to be pitted against an un-
seen foe, and to advance steadily when their com-
rades are falling around them, and when they can

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 103

only occasionally see a chance to retaliate. Wood's
experience in fighting Apaches stood him in good
stead. An entirely raw man at the head of the regi-
ment, conducting, as Wood was, what was practi-
cally an independent fight, would have been in a
very trying position. The fight cleared the way tow-
ard Santiago, and we experienced no further resist-
ance.

That afternoon we made camp and dined, sub-
sisting chiefly on a load of beans which we found
on one of the Spanish mules which had been shot.
We also looked after the wounded. Dr. Church
had himself gone out to the firing-line during the
fight, and carried to the rear some of the worst
wounded on his back or in his arms. Those who
could walk had walked in to where the little field-
hospital of the regiment was established on the trail.
We found all our dead and all the badly wounded.
Around one of the latter the big, hideous land-crabs
had gathered in a grewsome ring, waiting for life
to be extinct. One of our own men and most of
the Spanish dead had been found by the vultures
before we got to them; and their bodies were
mangled, the eyes and wounds being torn.

The Rough Rider who had been thus treated was
in Bucky O'Neill's troop; and as we looked at the
body, O'Neill turned to me and asked, "Colonel,
isn't it Whitman who says of the vultures that

104 The Rough Riders

'they pluck the eyes of princes and tear the flesh of
kings'?" I answered that I could not place the
quotation. Just a week afterward we were shield-
ing his own body from the birds of prey.

One of the men who fired first and who dis-
played conspicuous gallantry was a Cherokee half-
breed, who was hit seven times, and of course had to
go back to the States. Before he joined us at Mon-
tauk Point he had gone through a little private war
of his own ; for on his return he found that a cow-
boy had gone off with his sweetheart, and in the
fight that ensued he shot his rival. Another man
of L Troop who also showed marked gallantry was
Elliot Cowdin. The men of the plains and moun-
tains were trained by life-long habit to look on life
and death with iron philosophy. As I passed by a
couple of tall, lank, Oklahoma cow-punchers, I
heard one say, "Well, some of the boys got it in the
neck!" to which the other answered with the grim
plains proverb of the South : "Many a good horse
dies."

Thomas Isbell, a half-breed Cherokee in the
squad under Hamilton Fish, was among the first to
shoot and be shot at. He was wounded no less
than seven times. The first wound was received by
him two minutes after he had fired his first shot,
the bullet going through his neck. The second hit
him in the left thumb. The third struck near his

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 105

right hip, passing entirely through the body. The
fourth bullet (which was apparently from a Rem-
ington and not from a Mauser) went into his neck
and lodged against the bone, being afterward cut
out. The fifth bullet again hit his left hand. The
sixth scraped his head and the seventh his neck.
He did not receive all of the wounds at the same
time, over half an hour elapsing between the first
and the last. Up to receiving the last wound he had
declined to leave the firing-line, but by that time he
had lost so much blood that he had to be sent to the
rear. The man's wiry toughness was as notable as
his courage.

We improvised litters, and carried the more sore-
ly wounded back to Siboney that afternoon and the
next morning; the others walked. One of the men
who had been most severely wounded was Edward
Marshall, the correspondent, and he showed as
much heroism as any soldier in the whole army.
He was shot through the spine, a terrible and very
painful wound, which we supposed meant that he
would surely die; but he made no complaint of any
kind, and while he retained consciousness persisted
in dictating the story of the fight. A very touching
incident happened in the improvised open-air hos-
pital after the fight, where the wounded were lying.
They did not groan, and made no complaint, trying
to help one another. One of them suddenly began

106 The Rough Riders

to hum, "My Country 'Tis of Thee," and one by one
the others joined in the chorus, which swelled out
through the tropic woods, where the victors lay in
camp beside their dead. I did not see any sign
among the fighting men, whether wounded or un-
wounded, of the very complicated emotions as-
signed to their kind by some of the realistic modern
novelists who have written about battles. At the
front everyone behaved quite simply and took things
as they came, in a matter-of-course way; but there
was doubtless, as is always the case, a good deal of
panic and confusion in the rear where the wounded,
the stragglers, a few of the packers, and two or
three newspaper correspondents were, and in conse-
quence the first reports sent back to the coast were
of a most alarming character, describing, with mi-
nute inaccuracy, how we had run into an ambush,
etc. The packers with the mules which carried the
rapid-fire guns were among those who ran, and
they let the mules go in the jungle; in consequence
the guns were never even brought to the firing-
line, and only Fred Herrig's skill as a trailer enabled
us to recover them. By patient work he followed
up the mules' tracks in the forest until he found the
animals.

Among the wounded who walked to the tem-
porary hospital at Siboney was the trooper, Row-
land, of whom I spoke before. There the doctors

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 107

examined him, and decreed that his wound was
so serious that he must go back to the States. This
was enough for Rowland, who waited until night-
fall and then escaped, slipping out of the window
and making his way back to camp with his rifle
and pack, though his wound must have made all
movement very painful to him. After this, we felt
that he was entitled to stay, and he never left us for
a day, distinguishing himself again in the fight at
San Juan.

Next morning we buried seven dead Rough
Riders in a grave on the summit of the trail, Chap-
lain Brown reading the solemn burial service of the
Episcopalians, while the men stood around with
bared heads and joined in singing, "Rock of Ages."
Vast numbers of vultures were wheeling round and
round in great circles through the blue sky over-
head. There could be no more honorable burial
than that of these men in a common grave — Indian
and cow-boy, miner, packer, and college athlete—
the man of unknown ancestry from the lonely West-
ern plains, and the man who carried on his watch
the crests of the Stuyvesants and the Fishes, one
in the way they had met death, just as during life
they had been one in their daring and their loyalty.

On the afternoon of the 25th we moved on a
couple of miles, and camped in a marshy open spot
close to a beautiful stream. Here we lay for sev-

108 The Rough Riders

eral days. Captain Lee, the British attache, spent
some time with us; we had begun to regard him
as almost a member of the regiment. Count von
Gotzen, the German attache, another good fellow,
also visited us. General Young was struck down
with the fever, and Wood took charge of the bri-
gade. This left me in command of the regiment,
of which I was very glad, for such experience as we
had had is a quick teacher. By this time the men
and I knew one another, and I felt able to make
them do themselves justice in march or battle. They
understood that I paid no heed to where they came
from; no heed to their creed, politics, or social
standing; that I would care for them to the utmost
of my power, but that I demanded the highest per-
formance of duty; while in return I had seen them
tested, and knew I could depend absolutely on their
courage, hardihood, obedience, and individual initia-
tive.

There was nothing like enough transportation
with the army, whether in the way of wagons or
mule-trains; exactly as there had been no sufficient
number of landing-boats with the transports. The
officers5 baggage had come up, but none of us had
much, and the shelter-tents proved only a partial
protection against the terrific downpours of rain.
These occurred almost every afternoon, and turned
the camp into a tarn, and the trails into torrents

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 109

and quagmires. We were not given quite the proper
amount of food, and what we did get, like most of
the clothing issued us, was fitter for the Klondyke
than for Cuba. We got enough salt pork and hard-
tack for the men, but not the full ration of coffee
and sugar, and nothing else. I organized a couple
of expeditions back to the seacoast, taking the
strongest and best walkers, and also some of the
officers' horses and a stray mule or two, and brought
back beans and canned tomatoes. These I got
partly by great exertions on my part, and partly by
the aid of Colonel Weston of the Commissary De-
partment, a particularly energetic man .whose ser-
vices were of great value. A silly regulation for-
bade my purchasing canned vegetables, etc., except
for the officers; and I had no little difficulty in
getting round this regulation, and purchasing (with
my own money, of course) what I needed for the
men.

One of the men I took with me on one of these
trips was Sherman Bell, the former Deputy Mar-
shal of Cripple Creek, and Wells-Fargo Express
rider. In coming home with his load, through a
blinding storm, he slipped and opened the old rup-
ture. The agony was very great, and one of his
comrades took his load. He himself, sometimes
walking, and sometimes crawling, got back to
camp, where Dr. Church fixed him up with a spike

no The Rough Riders

bandage, but informed him that he would have to be
sent back to the States when an ambulance came
along.

The ambulance did not come until the next
day, which was the day before we marched to San
Juan. It arrived after nightfall, and as soon as
Bell heard it coming, he crawled out of the hos-
pital tent into the jungle, where he lay all night;
and the ambulance went off without him. The men
shielded him just as school-boys would shield a
companion, carrying his gun, belt, and bedding;
while Bell kept out of sight until the column start-
ed, and then staggered along behind it. I found
him the morning of the San Juan fight. He told
me that he wanted to die fighting, if die he must,
and I hadn't the heart to send him back. He did
splendid service that day, and afterward in the
trenches, and though the rupture opened twice
again, and on each occasion he was within a hair's
breadth of death, he escaped, and came back with
us to the United States.

The army was camped along the valley, ahead of
and behind us, our outposts being established on
either side. From the generals to the privates all
were eager to march against Santiago. At day-
break, when the tall palms began to show dimly
through the rising mist, the scream of the cavalry
trumpets tore the tropic dawn; and in the evening,

Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 1 1 1

as the bands of regiment after regiment played the
"Star-Spangled Banner," all, officers and men alike,
stood with heads uncovered, wherever they were,
until the last strains of the anthem died away in
the hot sunset air.

IV

THE CAVALRY AT SANTIAGO

ON June 3Oth we received orders to hold our-
selves in readiness to march against Santiago,
and all the men were greatly overjoyed, for the in-
action was trying. The one narrow road, a mere
muddy track along which the army was encamped,
was choked with the marching columns. As al-
ways happened when we had to change camp, every-
thing that the men could not carry, including, of
course, the officers' baggage, was left behind.

About noon the Rough Riders struck camp and
drew up in column beside the road in the rear of
the First Cavalry. Then we sat down and waited
for hours before the order came to march, while
regiment after regiment passed by, varied by bands
of tatterdemalion Cuban insurgents, and by mule-
trains with ammunition. Every man carried three
days' provisions. We had succeeded in borrowing
mules sufficient to carry along the dynamite gun
and the automatic Colts.

At last, toward mid-afternoon, the First and
Tenth Cavalry, ahead of us, marched, and we fol-

(112)

The Cavalry at Santiago 113

lowed. The First was under the command of Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Veile, the Tenth under Lieutenant-
Colonel Baldwin. Every few minutes there would
be a stoppage in front, and at the halt I would make
the men sit or lie down beside the track, loosening
their packs. The heat was intense as we passed
through the still, close jungle, which formed a wall
on either hand. Occasionally we came to gaps or
open spaces, where some regiment was camped,
and now and then one of these regiments, which ap-
parently had been left out of its proper place, would
file into the road, breaking up our line of march.
As a result, we finally found ourselves following
merely the trail of the regiment ahead of us, an
infantry regiment being thrust into the interval.
Once or twice we had to wade streams. Darkness
came on, but we still continued to march. It was
about eight o'clock when we turned to the left and
climbed El Paso hill, on whose summit there was a
ruined ranch and sugar factory, now, of course, de-
serted. Here I found General Wood, who was ar-
ranging for the camping of the brigade. Our own
arrangements for the night were simple. I ex-
tended each troop across the road into the jungle,
and then the men threw down their belongings
where they stood and slept on their arms. For-
tunately, there was no rain. Wood and I curled up
under our rain-coats on the saddle-blankets, while

ii4 The Rough Riders

his two aides, Captain A. L. Mills and Lieutenant
W. E. Shipp, slept near us. We were up before
dawn and getting breakfast. Mills and Shipp had
nothing to eat, and they breakfasted with Wood
and myself, as we had been able to get some hand-
fuls of beans, and some coffee and sugar, as well as
the ordinary bacon and hardtack.

We did not talk much, for though we were in
ignorance as to precisely what the day would bring
forth, we knew that we should see righting. We
had slept soundly enough, although, of course, both
Wood and I during the night had made a round of
the sentries, he of the brigade, and I of the regi-
ment; and I suppose that, excepting among hard-
ened veterans, there is always a certain feeling of
uneasy excitement the night before the battle.

Mills and Shipp were both tall, fine-looking men,
of tried courage, and thoroughly trained in every
detail of their profession; I remember being struck
by the quiet, soldierly way they were going about
their work early that morning. Before noon one
was killed and the other dangerously wounded.

General Wheeler was sick, but with his usual in-
domitable pluck and entire indifference to his own
personal comfort, he kept to the front. He was
unable to retain command of the cavalry division,
which accordingly devolved upon General Samuel
Sumner, who commanded it until mid-afternoon,

The Cavalry at Santiago 115

when the bulk of the fighting was over. General
Sumner's own brigade fell to Colonel Henry Car-
roll. General Sumner led the advance with the cav-
alry, and the battle was fought by him and by Gen-
eral Kent, who commanded the infantry division,
and whose foremost brigade was led by General
Hawkins.

As the sun rose the men fell in, and at the same
time a battery of field-guns was brought up on the
hill-crest just beyond, between us and toward San-
tiago. It was a fine sight to see the great horses
straining under the lash as they whirled the guns
up the hill and into position.

Our brigade was drawn up on the hither sjde of
a kind of half basin, a big band of Cubans being off
to the left. As yet we had received no orders, ex-
cept that we were told that the main fighting was
to be done by Lawton's infantry division, which
was to take El Caney, several miles to our right,
while we were simply to make a diversion. This
diversion was to be made mainly with the artillery,
and the battery which had taken position imme-
diately in front of us was to begin when Lawton
began.

It was about six o'clock that the first report of the
cannon from El Caney came booming to us across
the miles of still jungle. It was a very lovely morn-
ing, the sky of cloudless blue, while the level, shim-

n6 The Rough Riders

mering rays from the just-risen sun brought into
fine relief the splendid palms which here and there
towered above the lower growth. The lofty and
beautiful mountains hemmed in the Santiago plain,
making it an amphitheatre for the battle.

Immediately our guns opened, and at the report
great clouds of white smoke hung on the ridge
crest. For a minute or two there was no response.
Wood and I were sitting together, and Wood re-
marked to me that he wished our brigade could
be moved somewhere else, for we were directly in
line of any return fire aimed by the Spaniards at
the battery. Hardly had he spoken when there
was a peculiar whistling, singing sound in the air,
and immediately afterward the noise of something
exploding over our heads. It was shrapnel from
the Spanish batteries. We sprung to our feet and
leaped on our horses. Immediately afterward a
second shot came which burst directly above us;
and then a third. From the second shell one of the
shrapnel bullets dropped on my wrist, hardly break-
ing the skin, but raising a bump about as big as a
hickory-nut. The same shell wounded four of my
regiment, one of them being Mason Mitchell, and
two or three of the regulars were also hit, one los-
ing his leg by a great fragment of shell. Another
shell exploded right in the middle of the Cubans,
killing and wounding a good many, while the re-

The Cavalry at Santiago 117

mainder scattered like guinea-hens. Wood's led
horse was also shot through the lungs. ' I at once
hustled my regiment over the crest of the hill
into the thick underbrush, where I had no little
difficulty in getting them together again into
column.

Meanwhile the firing continued for fifteen or
twenty minutes, until it gradually died away. As
the Spaniards used smokeless powder, their artil-
lery had an enormous advantage over ours, and,
moreover, we did not have the best type of modern
guns, our fire being slow.

As soon as the firing ceased, Wood formed his
brigade, with my regiment in front, and gave me
orders to follow behind the First Brigade, which
was just moving off the ground. In column of
fours we marched down the trail toward the ford
of the San Juan River. We passed two or three
regiments of infantry, and were several times halted
before we came to the ford. The First Brigade,
which was under Colonel Carroll — Lieutenant-
Colpnel Hamilton commanding the Ninth Regi-
ment, Major Wessels the Third, and Captain Kerr
the Sixth — had already crossed and was marching
to the right, parallel to, but a little distance from,
the river. The Spaniards in the trenches and block-
houses on the top of the hills in front were already
firing at the brigade in desultory fashion. The

n8 The Rough Riders

extreme advance of the Ninth Cavalry was under
Lieutenants McNamee and Hartwick. They were
joined by General Hawkins, with his staff, who was
looking over the ground and deciding on the route
he should take his infantry brigade.

Our orders had been of the vaguest kind, being
simply to march to the right and connect with Law-
ton — with whom, of course, there was no chance of
our connecting. No reconnoissance had been made,
and the exact position and strength of the Spaniards
were not known. A captive balloon was up in the
air at this moment, but if was worse than useless.
A previous proper reconnoissance and proper look-
out from the hills would have given us exact in-
formation. As it was, Generals Kent, Sumner, and
Hawkins had to do their own reconnoissance, and
they fought their troops so well that we won
anyhow.

I was now ordered to cross the ford, march half
a mile or so to the right, and then halt and await
further orders; and I promptly hurried my men
across, for the fire was getting hot, and the captive
balloon, to the horror of everybody, was coming
down to the ford. Of course, it was a special tar-
get for the enemy's fire. I got my men across
before it reached the ford. There it partly col-
lapsed and remained, causing severe loss of life,
as it indicated the exact position where the Tenth

The Cavalry at Santiago 119

and the First Cavalry, and the infantry, were
crossing.

As I led my column slowly along, under the
intense heat, through the high grass of the open
jungle, the First Brigade was to our left, and the
firing between it and the Spaniards on the hills
grew steadily hotter and hotter. After a while I
came to a sunken lane, and as by this time the
First Brigade had stopped and was engaged in a
stand-up fight, I halted my men and sent back word
for orders. As we faced toward the Spanish hills
my regiment was on the right with next to it and
a little in advance the First Cavalry, and behind
them the Tenth. In our front the Ninth held the
right, the Sixth the centre, and the Third the left ;
but in the jungle the lines were already overlap-
ping in places. Kent's infantry were coming up,
further to the left.

Captain Mills was with me. The sunken lane,
which had a wire fence on either side, led straight
up toward, and between, the two hills in our front,
the hill on the left, which contained heavy block-
houses, being further away from us than the hill
on our right, which we afterward grew to call
Kettle Hill, and which was surmounted merely by
some large ranch buildings or haciendas, with
sunken brick-lined walls and cellars. I got the
men as well-sheltered as I could. Many of them

120 The Rough Riders

V

lay close under the bank of the lane, others slipped
into the San Juan River and crouched under its
hither bank, while the rest lay down behind the
patches of bushy jungle in the tall grass. The
heat was intense, and many of the men were al-
ready showing signs of exhaustion. The sides of
the hills in front were bare; but the country up
to them was, for the most part, covered with such
dense jungle that in charging through it no ac-
curacy of formation could possibly be preserved.
The fight was now on in good earnest, and the
Spaniards on the hills were engaged in heavy volley
firing. The Mauser bullets drove in sheets through
the trees and the tall jungle grass, making a pecul-
iar whirring or rustling sound; some of the bullets
seemed to pop in the air, so that we thought they
were explosive; and, indeed, many of those which
were coated with brass did explode, in the sense that
the brass coat was ripped off, making a thin plate of
hard metal with a jagged edge, which inflicted a
ghastly wound. These bullets were shot from a
45-calibre rifle carrying smokeless powder, which
was much used by the guerillas and irregular
Spanish troops. The Mauser bullets themselves
made a small, clean hole, with the result that the
wound healed in a most astonishing manner. One
or two of our men who were shot in the head had
the skull blown open, but elsewhere the wounds

The Cavalry at Santiago 121

from the minute steel-coated bullet, with its very
high velocity, were certainly "nothing like as seri-
ous as those made by the old large-calibre, low-
power rifle. If a man was shot through the heart,
spine, or brain he was, of course, killed instantly;
but very few of the wounded died — even under the
appalling conditions which prevailed, owing to the
lack of attendance and supplies in the field-hospitals
with the army.

While we were lying in reserve we were suffering
nearly as much as afterward when we charged. I
think that the bulk of the Spanish fire was prac-
tically unaimed, or at least not aimed at any par-
ticular man, and only occasionally at a particular
body of men ; but they swept the whole field of bat-
tle up to the edge of the river, and man after man
in our ranks fell dead or wounded, although I had
the troopers scattered out far apart, taking advan-
tage of every scrap of cover.

Devereux was dangerously shot while he lay with
his men on the edge of the river. A young West
Point cadet, Ernest Haskell, who had taken his holi-
day with us as an acting second lieutenant, was shot
through the stomach. He had shown great cool-
ness and gallantry, which he displayed to an even
more marked degree after being wounded, shaking
my hand and saying, "All right, Colonel, I'm go-
ing to get well. Don't bother about me, and don't

VOL. XL— P

122 The Rough Riders

let any man come away with me." When I shook
hands with him I thought he would surely die ; yet
he recovered.

The most serious loss that I and the regiment
could have suffered befell just before we charged.
Bucky O'Neill was strolling up and down in front
of his men, smoking his cigarette, for he was in-
veterately addicted to the habit. He had a theory
that an officer ought never to take cover — a theory
which was, of course, wrong, though in a volunteer
organization the officers should certainly expose
themselves very fully, simply for the effect on the
men ; our regimental toast on the transport running,
"The officers; may the war last until each is killed,
wounded, or promoted." As O'Neill moved to and
fro, his men begged him to lie down, and one of the
sergeants said, "Captain, a bullet is sure to hit you."
O'Neill took his cigarette out of his mouth, and
blowing out a cloud of smoke laughed and said,
"Sergeant, the Spanish bullet isn't made that will
kill me." A little later he discussed for a moment
with one of the regular officers the direction from
which the Spanish fire was coming. As he turned
on his heel a bullet struck him in the mouth and
came out at the back of his head ; so that even before
he fell his wild and gallant soul had gone out into
the darkness.

My orderly was a brave young Harvard boy,

The Cavalry at Santiago 123

Sanders, from the quaint old Massachusetts town of
Salem. The work of an orderly on foot, under the
blazing sun, through the hot and matted jungle,
was very severe, and finally the heat overcame him.
He dropped; nor did he ever recover fully, and
later he died from fever. In his place I summoned
a trooper whose name I did not know. Shortly
afterward, while sitting beside the bank, I directed
him to go back and ask whatever general he came
across if I could not advance, as my men were
being much cut up. He stood up to salute and then
pitched forward across my knees, a bullet having
gone through his throat, cutting the carotid.

When O'Neill was shot, his troop, who were de-
voted to him, were for the moment at a loss whom
to follow. One of their number, Henry Bardshar,
a huge Arizona miner, immediately attached himself
to me as my orderly, and from that moment he was
closer to me, not only in the fight, but throughout
the rest of the campaign, than any other man, not
even excepting the color-sergeant, Wright.

Captain Mills was with me ; gallant Shipp had al-
ready been killed. Mill's was an invaluable aide,
absolutely cool, absolutely unmoved or flurried in
any way.

I sent messenger after messenger to try to find
General Sumner or General Wood and get permis-
sion to advance, and was just about making up my

124 The Rough Riders

mind that in the absence of orders I had better
"march toward the guns," when Lieutenant-Colonel
Dorst came riding up through the storm of bullets
with the welcome command "to move forward and
support the regulars in the assault on the hills in
front." General Sumner had obtained authority to
advance from Lieutenant Miley, who was represent-
ing General Shafter at the front, and was in the thick
of the fire. The General at once ordered the first
brigade to advance on the hills, and the second to
support it. He himself was riding his horse along
the lines, superintending the fight. Later I over-
heard a couple of my men talking together about
him. What they said illustrates the value of a dis-
play of courage among the officers in hardening
their soldiers ; for their theme was how, as they were
lying down under a fire which they could not return,
and were in consequence feeling rather nervous,
General Sumner suddenly appeared on horseback,
sauntering by quite unmoved; and, said one of the
men, "That made us feel all right. If the General
could stand it, we could."

The instant I received the order I sprang on my
horse and then my "crowded hour" began. The
guerillas had been shooting at us from the edges
of the jungle and from their perches in the leafy
trees, and as they used smokeless powder, it was
almost impossible to see them, though a few of my

The Cavalry at Santiago 125

men had from time to time responded. We had
also suffered from the hill on our right front, which
was held chiefly by guerillas, although there were
also some Spanish regulars with them, for we found
their dead. I formed my men in column of troops,
each troop extended in open skirmishing order, the
right resting on the wire fences which bordered the
sunken lane. Captain Jenkins led the first squadron,
his eyes literally dancing with joyous excitement.

I started in the rear of the regiment, the position
in which the colonel should theoretically stay. Cap-
tain Mills and Captain McCormick were both with
me as aides ; but I speedily had to send them off on
special duty in getting the different bodies of men
forward. I had intended to go into action on foot
as at Las Guasimas, but the heat was so oppressive
that I found I should be quite unable to run up
and down the line and superintend matters unless
I was mounted ; and, moreover, when on horseback,
I could see the men better and they could see me
better.

A curious incident happened as I was getting the
men started forward. Always when men have been
lying down under cover for some time, and are re-
quired to advance, there is a little hesitation, each
looking to see whether the others are going for-
ward. As I rode down the line, calling to the
troopers to go forward, and rasping brief directions

126 The Rough Riders

to the captains and lieutenants, I came upon a man
lying behind a little bush, and I ordered him to
jump up. I do not think he understood that we
were making a forward move, and he looked up at
me for a moment with hesitation, and I again bade
him rise, jeering him and saying: "Are you afraid
to stand up when I am on horseback?" As I spoke,
he suddenly fell forward on his face, a bullet having
struck him and gone through him lengthwise. I
suppose the bullet had been aimed at me; at any
rate, I, who was on horseback in the open, was un-
hurt, and the man lying flat on the ground in the
cover beside me was killed. There were several
pairs of brothers with us; of the two Nortons one
was killed ; of the two McCurdys one was wounded.

I soon found that I could get that line, behind
which I personally was, faster forward than the one
immediately in front of it, with the result that the
two rearmost lines of the regiment began to crowd
together; so I rode through them both, the better
to move on the one in front. This happened with
every line in succession, until I found myself at the
head of the regiment.

Both lieutenants of B Troop from Arizona had
been exerting themselves greatly, and both were
overcome by the heat; but Sergeants Campbell and
Davidson took it forward in splendid shape. Some
of the men from this troop and from the other Ari-

The Cavalry at Santiago 127

zona troop (Bucky O'Neill's) joined me as a kind
of fighting tail.

The Ninth Regiment was immediately in front
of me, and the First on my left, and these went up
Kettle Hill with my regiment. The Third, Sixth,
and Tenth went partly up Kettle Hill (following
the Rough Riders and the Ninth and First), and
partly between that and the block-house hill, which
the infantry were assailing. General Stunner in
person gave the Tenth the order to charge the hills ;
and it went forward at a rapid gait. The three
regiments went forward more or less intermingled,
advancing steadily and keeping up a heavy fire. Up
Kettle Hill Sergeant George Berry, of the Tenth,
bore not only his own regimental colors, but those
of the Third, the color-sergeant of the Third hav-
ing been shot down; he kept shouting: "Dress on
the colors, boys, dress on the colors!" as he fol-
lowed Captain Ayres, who was running in advance
of his men, shouting and waving his hat. The
Tenth Cavalry lost a greater proportion of its offi-
cers than any other regiment in the battle — eleven
out of twenty-two.

By the time I had come to the head of the regi-
ment we ran into the left wing of the Ninth Regu-
lars, and some of the First Regulars, who were lying
down; that is, the troopers were lying down, while
the officers were walking to and fro. The officers

128 The Rough Riders

of the white and colored regiments alike took the
greatest pride in seeing that the men more than did
their duty ; and the mortality among them was great.
I spoke to the captain in command of the rear
platoons, saying that I had been ordered to support
the regulars in the attack upon the hills, and that in
my judgment we could not take these hills by firing
at them, and that we must rush them. He answered
that his orders were to keep his men lying where
they were, and that he could not charge without
orders. I asked where the Colonel was, and as he
was not in sight, said, "Then I am the ranking offi-
cer here and I give the order to charge" — for I did
not want to keep the men longer in the open suffer-
ing under a fire which they could not effectively re-
turn. Naturally the Captain hesitated to obey this
order when no word had been received from his own
Colonel. So I said, "Then let my men through,
sir," and rode on through the lines, followed by the
grinning Rough Riders, whose attention had been
completely taken off the Spanish bullets, partly by
my dialogue with the regulars, and partly by the
language I had been using to themselves as I got
the lines forward, for I had been joking with some
and swearing at others, as the exigencies of the case
seemed to demand. When we started to go through,
however, it proved too much for the regulars, and
they jumped up and came along, their officers and

The Cavalry at Santiago 129

troops mingling with mine, all being delighted at
the chance. When I got to where the head of the
left wing of the Ninth was lying, through the court-
esy of Lieutenant Hartwick, two of whose colored
troopers threw down the fence, I was enabled to get
back into the lane, at the same time waving my hat,
and giving the order to charge the hill on our right
front. Out of my sight, over on the right, Cap-
tains McBlain and Taylor, of the Ninth, made up
their minds independently to charge at just about
this time; and at almost the same moment Colonels
Carroll and Hamilton, who were off, I believe, to
my left, where we could see neither them nor their
men, gave the order to advance. But of all this I
knew nothing at the time. The whole line, tired of
waiting, and eager to close with the enemy, was
straining to go forward ; and it seems that different
parts slipped the leash at almost the same moment.
The First Cavalry came up the hill just behind, and
partly mixed with my regiment and the Ninth. As
already said, portions of the Third, Sixth, and Tenth
followed, while the rest of the members of these
three regiments kept more in touch with the infantry
on our left.

By this time we were all in the spirit of the thing
and greatly excited by the charge, the men cheer-
ing and running forward between shots, while the
delighted faces of the foremost officers, like Captain

1 30 The Rough Riders

C. J. Stevens, of the Ninth, as they ran at the head
of their troops, will always stay in my mind. As
soon as I was in the line I galloped forward a few
yards until I saw that the men were well started,
and then galloped back to help Goodrich, who was
in command of his troop, get his men across the
road so as to attack the hill from that side. Cap-
tain Mills had already thrown three of the other
troops of the regiment across this road for the same
purpose. Wheeling around, I then again galloped
toward the hill, passing the shouting, cheering, fir-
ing men, and went up the lane, splashing through
a small stream; when I got abreast of the ranch
buildings on the top of Kettle Hill, I turned and
went up the slope. Being on horseback I was, of
course, able to get ahead of the men on foot, except-
ing my orderly, Henry Bardshar, who had run
ahead very fast in order to get better shots at the
Spaniards, who were now running out of the ranch
buildings. Sergeant Campbell and a number of the
Arizona men, and Dudley Dean, among others, were
very close behind. Stevens, with his platoon of the
Ninth, was abreast of us; so were McNamee and
Hartwick. Some forty yards from the top I ran
into a wire fence and jumped off Little Texas, turn-
ing him loose. He had been scraped by a couple of
bullets, one of which nicked my elbow, and I never
expected to see him again. As I ran up to the hill,

The Cavalry at Santiago 131

Bardshar stopped to shoot, and two Spaniards fell
as he emptied his magazine. These were the only
Spaniards I actually saw fall to aimed shots by any
one of my men, with the exception of two guerillas
in trees.

Almost immediately afterward the hill was cov-
ered by the troops, both Rough Riders and the col-
ored troopers of the Ninth, and some men of the
First. There was the usual confusion, and after-
ward there was much discussion as to exactly who
had been on the hill first. The first guidons planted
there were those of the three New Mexican troops,
G, E, and F, of my regiment, under their Captains,
Llewellen, Luna, and Muller, but on the extreme
right of the hill, at the opposite end from where we
struck it, Captains Taylor and McBlain and their
men of the Ninth were first up. Each of the five
captains was firm in the belief that his troop was
first up. As for the individual men, each of whom
honestly thought he was first on the summit, their
name was legion. One Spaniard was captured in
the buildings, another was shot as he tried to hide
himself, and a few others were killed as they ran.

Among the many deeds of conspicuous gallantry
here performed, two, both to the credit of the First
Cavalry, may be mentioned as examples of the others,
not as exceptions. Sergeant Charles Karsten, while
close beside Captain Tutherly, the squadron com-

i3 2 The Rough Riders

mander, was hit by a shrapnel bullet. He continued
on the line, firing1 until his arm grew numb ; and he
then refused to go to the rear, and devoted himself
to taking care of the wounded, utterly unmoved by
the heavy fire. Trooper Hugo Brittain, when
wounded, brought the regimental standard forward,
waving it to and fro, to cheer the men.

No sooner were we on the crest than the Span-
iards from the line of hills in our front, where they
were strongly intrenched, opened a very heavy fire
upon us with their rifles. They also opened upon us
with one or two pieces of artillery, using time fuses
which burned very accurately, the shells exploding
right over our heads.

On the top of the hill was a huge iron kettle, or
something of the kind, probably used for sugar re-
fining. Several of our men took shelter behind this.
We had a splendid view of the charge on the San
Juan block-house to our left, where the infantry of
Kent, led by Hawkins, were climbing the hill.
Obviously the proper thing to do was to help them,
and I got the men together and started them volley-
firing against the Spaniards in the San Juan block-
house and in the trenches around it. We could only
see their heads ; of course this was all we ever could
see when we were firing at them in their trenches.
Stevens was directing not only his own colored
troopers, but a number of Rough Riders; for in a

The Cavalry at Santiago 133

melee good soldiers are always prompt to recognize
a good officer, and are eager to follow him.

We kept up a brisk fire for some five or ten min-
utes; meanwhile we were much cut up ourselves.
Gallant Colonel Hamilton, than whom there was
never a braver man, was killed, and equally gallant
Colonel Carroll wounded. When near the summit
Captain Mills had been shot through the head, the
bullet destroying the sight of one eye permanently
and of the other temporarily. He would not go
back or let any man assist him, sitting down where
he was and waiting until one of the men brought
him word that the hill was stormed. Colonel Veile
planted the standard of the First Cavalry on the hill,
and General Sumner rode up. He was fighting his
division in great form, and was always himself in
the thick of the fire. As the men were much ex-
cited by the firing, they seemed to pay very little
heed to their own losses.

Suddenly, above the cracking of the carbines, rose
a peculiar drumming sound, and some of the men
cried, "The Spanish machine-guns!" Listening, I
made out that it came from the flat ground to the
left, and jumped to my feet, smiting my hand on
my thigh, and shouting aloud with exultation, "It's
the Catlings, men, our Catlings!" Lieutenant
Parker was bringing his four Catlings into action,
and shoving them nearer and nearer the front. Now

134 The Rough Riders

and then the drumming ceased for a moment; then
it would resound again, always closer to San Juan
hill, which Parker, like ourselves, was hammering
to assist the infantry attack. Our men cheered lus-
tily. We saw much of Parker after that, and there
was never a more welcome sound than his Catlings
as they opened. It was the only sound which I ever
heard my men cheer in battle.

The infantry got nearer and nearer the crest of
the hill. At last we could see the Spaniards run-
ning from the rifle-pits as the Americans came on
in their final rush. Then I stopped my men for
fear they should injure their comrades, and called
to them to charge the next line of trenches, on the
hills in our front, from which we had been under-
going a good deal of punishment. Thinking that
the men would all come, I jumped over the wire
fence in front of us and started at the double; but,
as a matter of fact, the troopers were so excited,
what with shooting and being shot, and shouting
and cheering, that they did not hear, or did not heed
me; and after running about a hundred yards I
found I had only five men along with me. Bullets
were ripping the grass all around us, and one of the
men, Clay Green, was mortally wounded; another,
Winslow Clark, a Harvard man, was shot first in
the leg and then through the body. He made not
the slightest murmur, only asking me to put his

The Cavalry at Santiago 135

water canteen where he could get at it, which I did ;
he ultimately recovered. There was no use going
on with the remaining three men, and I bade them
stay where they were while I went back and brought
up the rest of the brigade. This was a decidedly
cool request, for there was really no possible point
in letting them stay there while I went back ; but at
the moment it seemed perfectly natural to me, and
apparently so to them, for they cheerfully nodded,
and sat down in the grass, firing back at the line of
trenches from which the Spaniards were shooting
at them. Meanwhile, I ran back, jumped over the
wire fence, and went over the crest of the hill, filled
with anger against the troopers, and especially those
of my own regiment, for not having accompanied
me. They, of course, were quite innocent of wrong-
doing; and even while I taunted them bitterly for
not having followed me, it was all I could do not
to smile at the look of injury and surprise that came
over their faces, while they cried out, "We didn't
hear you, we didn't see you go, Colonel; lead on
now, we'll sure follow you." I wanted the other
regiments to come, too, so I ran down to where
General Sumner was and asked him if I might make
the charge ; and he told me to go and that he would
see that the men followed. By this time everybody
had his attention attracted, and when I leaped over
the fence again, with Major Jenkins beside me, the

136 The Rough Riders

men of the various regiments which were already on
the hill came with a rush, and we started across the
wide valley which lay between us and the Spanish
intrenchments. Captain Dimmick, now in com-
mand of the Ninth, was bringing it forward; Cap-
tain McBlain had a number of Rough Riders mixed
in with his troop, and led them all together; Cap-
tain Taylor had been severely wounded. The long-
legged men like Greenway, Goodrich, sharpshooter
Proffit, and others, outstripped the rest of us, as we
had a considerable distance to go. Long before we
got near them the Spaniards ran, save a few here
and there, who either surrendered or were shot
down. When we reached the trenches we found
them filled with dead bodies in the light blue and
white uniform of the Spanish regular army. There
were very few wounded. Most of the fallen had
little holes in their heads from which their brains
were oozing; for they were covered from the neck
down by the trenches.

It was at this place that Major Wessels, of the
Third Cavalry, was shot in the back of the head.
It was a severe wound, but after having it bound up
he again came to the front in command of his regi-
ment. Among the men who were foremost was
Lieutenant Milton F. Davis, of the First Cavalry.
He had been joined by three men of the Seventy-
first New York, who ran up, and, saluting, said,

The Cavalry at Santiago 137

"Lieutenant, we want to go with you, our officers
won't lead us." One of the brave fellows was soon
afterward shot in the face. Lieutenant Davis's first
sergeant, Clarence Gould, killed a Spanish soldier
with his revolver, just as the Spaniard was aiming
at one of my Rough Riders. At about the same time
I also shot one. I was with Henry Bardshar, run-
ning up at the double, and two Spaniards leaped
from the trenches and fired at us, not ten yards
away. As they turned to run I closed in and fired
twice, missing the first and killing the second. My
revolver was from the sunken battleship Maine, and
had been given me by my brother-in-law, Captain
W. S. Cowles, of the Navy. At the time I did not
know of Gould's exploit, and supposed my feat to
be unique ; and although Gould had killed his Span-
iard in the trenches, not very far from me, I never
learned of it until weeks after. It is astonishing
what a limited area of vision and experience one has
in the hurly-burly of a battle.

There was very great confusion at this time, the
different regiments being completely intermingled
— white regulars, colored regulars, and Rough Rid-
ers. General Sumner had kept a considerable force
in reserve on Kettle Hill, under Major Jackson, of
the Third Cavalry. We were still under a heavy
fire, and I got together a mixed lot of men and
pushed on from the trenches and ranch-houses which

ij 8 The Rough Riders

we had just taken, driving the Spaniards through a
line of palm-trees, and over the crest of a chain of
hills. When we reached these crests we found our-
selves overlooking Santiago. Some of the men, in-
cluding Jenkins, Greenway, and Goodrich, pushed
on almost by themselves far ahead. Lieutenant
Hugh Berkely, of the First, with a sergeant and
two troopers, reached the extreme front. He was,
at the time, ahead of every one; the sergeant was
killed and one trooper wounded; but the lieutenant
and the remaining trooper stuck to their post for the
rest of the afternoon until our line was gradually
extended to include them.

While I was reforming the troops on the chain
of hills, one of General Sumner's aides, Captain
Robert Howze — as dashing and gallant an officer
as there was in the whole gallant cavalry division,
by the way— came up with orders to me to halt
where I was, not advancing further, but to hold
the hill at all hazards. Howze had his horse, and
I had some difficulty in making him take proper
shelter; he stayed with us for quite a time, unable
to make up his mind to leave the extreme front,
and meanwhile jumping at the, chance to render any
service, of risk or otherwise, which the moment de-
veloped.

I now had under me all the fragments of the six
cavalry regiments which were at the extreme front,

The Cavalry at Santiago 139

being the highest officer left there, and I was in
immediate command of them for the remainder of
the afternoon and that night. The Ninth was over
to the right, and the Thirteenth Infantry afterward
came up beside it. The rest of Kent's infantry was
to our left. Of the Tenth, Lieutenants Anderson,
Muller, and Fleming reported to me ; Anderson was
slightly wounded, but he paid no heed to this. All
three, like every other officer, had troopers of vari-
ous regiments under them ; such mixing was inevita-
ble in making repeated charges through thick jun-
gle;, it was essentially a troop commanders', indeed,
almost a squad leaders', fight. The Spaniards who
had been holding the trenches and the line of hills,
had fallen back upon their supports and we were
under a very heavy fire both from rifles and great
guns. At the point where we were, the grass-cov-
ered hill-crest was gently rounded, giving poor
cover, and I made my men lie down on the hither
slope.

On the extreme left Captain Beck, of the Tenth,
with his own troop, and small bodies of the men
of other regiments, was exercising a practically in-
dependent command, driving back the Spaniards
whenever they showed any symptoms of advancing.
He had received his orders to hold the line at all
hazards from Lieutenant Andrews, one of General
Sumner's aides, just as I had received mine from

The Rough Riders

Captain Howze. Finally, he was relieved by some
infantry, and then rejoined the rest of the Tenth,
which was engaged heavily until dark, Major Wint
being among the severely wounded. Lieutenant
W. N. Smith was killed. Captain Bigelow had
been wounded three times.

Our artillery made one or two efforts to come into
action on the firing-line of the infantry, but the black
powder rendered each attempt fruitless. The Spanish
guns used smokeless powder, so that it was difficult
to place them. In this respect they were on a par
with their own infantry and with our regular infan-
try and dismounted cavalry ; but our only two volun-
teer infantry regiments, the Second Massachusetts
and the Seventy-first New York, and our artillery,
all had black powder. This rendered the two volun-
teer regiments, which were armed with the anti-
quated Springfield, almost useless in the battle, and
did practically the same thing for the artillery where-
ever it was formed *within rifle range. When one
of the guns was discharged a thick cloud of smoke
shot out and hung over the place, making an ideal
target, and in a half minute every Spanish gun and
rifle within range was directed at the particular spot
thus indicated; the consequence was that after a
more or less lengthy stand the gun was silenced or
driven off. We got no appreciable help from our
guns on July ist. Our men were quick to realize

The Cavalry at Santiago 141

the defects of our artillery, but they were entirely
philosophic about it, not showing the least concern
at its failure. On the contrary, whenever they heard
our artillery open they would grin as they looked at
one another and remark, 'There go the guns again ;
wonder how soon they'll be shut up," and shut up
they were sure to be. The light battery of Hotch-
kiss one-pounders, under Lieutenant J. B. Hughes,
of the Tenth Cavalry, was handled with conspicu-
ous gallantry.

On the hill-slope immediately around me I had a
mixed force composed of members of most of the
cavalry regiments, and a few infantrymen. There
were about fifty of my Rough Riders with Lieuten-
ants Goodrich and Carr. Among the rest were per-
haps a score of colored infantrymen, but, as it hap-
pened, at this particular point without any of their
officers. No troops could have behaved better than
the colored soldiers had behaved so far ; but they are,
of course, peculiarly dependent upon their white
officers. Occasionally they produce non-commis-
sioned officers who can take the initiative and accept
responsibility precisely like the best class of whites ;
but this can not be expected normally, nor is it fair
to expect it. With the colored troops there should
always be some of their own officers ; whereas, with
the white regulars, as with my own Rough Riders,
experience showed that the non-commissioned offi-

142 The Rough Riders

cers could usually carry on the fight by themselves
if they were once started, no matter whether their
officers were killed or not.

At this particular time it was trying for the men,
as they were lying flat on their faces, very rarely re-
sponding to the bullets, shells, and shrapnel which
swept over the hill-top, and which occasionally killed
or wounded one of their number. Major Albert G.
Forse, of the First Cavalry, a noted Indian fighter,
was killed about this time. One of my best men,
Sergeant Greenly, of Arizona, who was lying be-
side me, suddenly said, "Beg pardon, Colonel; but
I've been hit in the leg." I asked, "Badly?" He
said, "Yes, Colonel; quite badly." After one of his
comrades had helped him fix up his leg with a first-
aid-to-the-injured bandage, he limped off to the
rear. .

None of the white regulars or Rough Riders
showed the slightest sign of weakening; but under
the strain the colored infantrymen (who had none
of their officers) began to get a little uneasy and to
drift to the rear, either helping wounded men, or
saying that they wished to find their own regiments.
This I could not allow, as it was depleting my line,
so I jumped up, and walking a few yards to the
rear, drew my revolver, halted the retreating sol-
diers, and called out to them that I appreciated the
gallantry with which they had fought and would

The Cavalry at Santiago H3

be sorry to hurt them, but that I should shoot the
first man who, on any pretence whatever, went to
the rear. My own men had all sat up and were
watching my movements with the utmost interest ;
so was Captain Howze. I ended my statement to
the colored soldiers by saying: "Now, I shall be very
sorry to hurt you, and you don't know whether or
not I will keep my word, but my men can tell you
that I always do;" whereupon my cow-punchers,
hunters, and miners solemnly nodded their heads
and commented in chorus, exactly as if in a comic
opera, "He always does ; he always does !"

This was the end of the trouble, for the "smoked
Yankees" — as the Spaniards called the colored sol-
diers— flashed their white teeth at one another, as
they broke into broad grins, and I had no more
trouble with them, they seeming to accept me as
one of their own officers. The colored cavalrymen
had already so accepted me; in return, the Rough
Riders, although for the most part Southwesterners,
who have a strong color prejudice, grew to accept
them with hearty goodwill as comrades, and were
entirely willing, in their own phrase, "to drink out
of the same canteen." Where all the regular offi-
cers did so well, it is hard to draw any distinction ;
but in the cavalry division a peculiar meed of praise
should be given to the officers of the Ninth and
Tenth for their work, and under their leadership the

144 The Rough Riders

colored troops did as well as any soldiers could pos-
sibly do.

In the course of the afternoon the Spaniards in
our front made the only offensive movement which
I saw them make during the entire campaign; for
what were ordinarily called "attacks" upon our lines
consisted merely of heavy firing from their trenches
and from their skirmishers. In this case they did
actually begin to make a forward movement, their
cavalry coming up as well as the marines and reserve
infantry,* while their skirmishers, who were always
bold, redoubled their activity. It could not be called
a charge, and not only was it not pushed home, but
it was stopped almost as soon as it began, our men
immediately running forward to the crest of the hill
with shouts of delight at seeing their enemies at last
come into the open. A few seconds' firing stopped
their advance and drove them into the cover of the
trenches.

They kept up a very heavy fire for some time
longer, and our men again lay down, only replying
occasionally. Suddenly we heard on our right the
peculiar drumming sound which had been so wel-
come in the morning, when the infantry were assail-
ing the San Juan block-house. The Catlings were
up again ! I started over to inquire, and found that

* Lieutenant Tejeiro, p. 154, speaks of this attempt to retake
San Juan and its failure.

The Cavalry at Santiago 145

Lieutenant Parker, not content with using his guns
in support of the attacking forces, had thrust them
forward to the extreme front of the fighting line,
where he was handling them with great effect.
From this time on, throughout the fighting, Parker's
Catlings were on the right of my regiment, and his
men and mine fraternized in every way. He kept
his pieces at the extreme front, using them on every
occasion until the last Spanish shot was fired. In-
deed, the dash and efficiency with which the Catlings
were handled by Parker was one of the most strik-
ing features of the campaign ; he showed that a first-
rate officer could use machine-guns, on wheels, in
battle and skirmish, in attacking and defending
trenches, alongside of the best troops, and to their
great advantage.

As night came on, the firing gradually died away.
Before this happened, however, Captains Morton
and Boughton, of the Third Cavalry, came over to
tell me that a rumor had reached them to the effect
that there had been some talk of retiring and that
they wished to protest in the strongest manner. I
had been watching them both, as they handled their
troops with the cool confidence of the veteran regu-
lar officer, and had been congratulating myself that
they were off toward the right flank, for as long as
they were there, I knew I was perfectly safe in that
direction. I had heard no rumor about retiring,
VOL. XI.-G

146 The Rough Riders

and I cordially agreed with them that it would be
far worse than a blunder to abandon our position.

To attack the Spaniards by rushing across open
ground, or through wire entanglements and low, al-
most impassable jungle, without the help of artil-
lery, and to force unbroken infantry, fighting behind
earthworks and armed with the best repeating weap-
ons, supported by cannon, was one thing; to repel
such an attack ourselves, or to fight our foes on
anything like even terms in the open, was quite an-
other thing. No possible number of Spaniards com-
ing at us from in front could have driven us from
our position, and there was not a man on the crest
who did not eagerly and devoutly hope that our
opponents would make the attempt, for it would
surely have been followed, not merely by a repulse,
but by our immediately taking the city. There was
not an officer or a man on the firing-line, so far as
I saw them, who did not feel this way.

As night fell, some of my men went back to the
buildings in our rear and foraged through them, for
we had now been fourteen hours charging and fight-
ing without food. They came across what was evi-
dently the Spanish officers' mess, where their din-
ner was still cooking, and they brought it to the
front in high glee. It was evident that the Spanish
officers were living well, however the Spanish rank
and file were faring. There were three big iron

CO»Y«,»»T 1,03 IT HINKY 0. MACRO

The Cavalry at Santiago 147

pots, one filled with beef-stew, one with boiled rice,
and one with boiled peas ; there was a big demijohn
of rum (all along- the trenches which the Spaniards
held were empty wine and liquor bottles) ; there
were a number of loaves of rice-bread; and there
were even some small cans of preserves and a few
salt fish. Of course, among so many men, the food,
which was equally divided, did not give very much
to each, but it freshened us all.

Soon after dark, General Wheeler, who in the
afternoon had resumed command of the cavalry di-
vision, came to the front. A very few words with
General Wheeler reassured us about retiring. He
had been through too much heavy firing, in the Civil
War to regard the present fight as very serious, and
he told us not to be under any apprehension, for he
had sent word that there was no need whatever of
retiring, and was sure we would stay where we were
until the chance came to advance. He was second
in command ; and to him more than to any other one
man was due the prompt abandonment of the pro-
posal to fall back — a proposal which, if adopted,
would have meant shame and disaster.

Shortly afterward General Wheeler sent us orders
to intrench. The men of the different regiments
were now getting in place again and sifting them-
selves out. All of our troops who had been kept at
Kettle Hill came forward and rejoined us after

148 The Rough Riders

nightfall. During the afternoon Greenway, appar-
ently not having enough to do in the fighting, had
taken advantage of a lull to explore the buildings
himself, and had found a number of Spanish in-
trenching tools, picks, and shovels; and these we
used in digging trenches along our line. The men
were very tired indeed, but they went cheerfully
to work, all the officers doing their part.

Crockett, the ex-Revenue officer from Georgia,
was a slight man, not physically very strong. He
came to me and told me he didn't think he would
be much use in digging, but that he had found a lot
of Spanish coffee and would spend his time making
coffee for the men, if I approved. I did approve
very heartily, and Crockett officiated as cook for the
next three or four hours until the trench was dug,
his coffee being much appreciated by all of us.

So many acts of gallantry were performed during
the day that it is quite impossible to notice them
all, and it seems unjust to single out any ; yet I shall
mention a few, which it must always be remembered
are to stand, not as exceptions, but as instances of
what very many men did. It happened that I saw
these myself. There were innumerable others, which
either were not seen at all, or were seen only by
officers who happened not to mention them ; and, of
course, I know chiefly those that happened in my
own regiment.

The Cavalry at Santiago 149

Captain Llewellen was a large, heavy man, who
had a grown-up son in the ranks. On the march he
had frequently carried the load of some man who
weakened, and he was not feeling well on the morn-
ing of the fight. Nevertheless, he kept at the head
of his troop all day. In the charging and rushing,
he not only became very much exhausted, but finally
fell, wrenching himself terribly, and though he re-
mained with us all night, he was so sick by morning
that we had to take him behind the hill into an im-
provised hospital. Lieutenant Day, after handling
his troop with equal gallantry and efficiency, was
shot, on the summit of Kettle Hill. He was hit in
the arm and was forced to go to the rear, but he
would not return to the States, and rejoined us at the
front long before his wound was healed. Lieutenant
Leahy was also wounded, not far from him. Thir-
teen of the men were wounded and yet kept on
fighting until the end of the day, and in some cases
never went to the rear at all, even to have their
wounds dressed. They were Corporals Waller and
Fortescue and Trooper McKinley of Troop E ; Cor-
poral Roades of Troop D ; Troopers Albertson, Win-
ter, McGregor, and Ray Clark of Troop F ; Troop-
ers Bugbee, Jackson, and Waller of Troop A;
Trumpeter McDonald of Troop L ; Sergeant Hughes
of Troop B ; and Trooper Gievers of Troop G. One
of the Wallers was a cow-puncher from New Mexi-

150 The Rough Riders

co, the other the champion Yale high- jumper. The
first was shot through the left afrm so as to paralyze
the fingers, but he continued in battle, pointing his
rifle over the wounded arm as though it had been a
rest. The other Waller, and Bugbee, were hit in
the head, the bullets merely inflicting scalp wounds.
Neither of them paid any heed to the wounds ex-
cept that after nightfall each had his head done up
in a bandage. Fortescue I was at times using as an
extra orderly. I noticed he limped, but supposed
that his foot was skinned. It proved, however, that
he had been struck in the foot, though not very seri-
ously, by a bullet, and I never knew what was the
matter until the next day I saw him making wry
faces as he drew off his bloody boot, which was stuck
fast to the foot. Trooper Rowland again distin-
guished himself by his fearlessness.

For gallantry on the field of action Sergeants
Dame, Ferguson, Tiffany, Greenwald, and, later on,
Mcllhenny, were promoted to second lieutenancies,
as Sergeant Hayes had already been. Lieutenant
Carr, who commanded his troop, and behaved with
great gallantry throughout the day, was shot and
severely wounded at nightfall. He was the son of
a Confederate officer; his was the fifth generation
which, from father to son, had fought in every war
of the United States. Among the men whom I no-
ticed as leading in the charges and always being

The Cavalry at Santiago 151

nearest the enemy, were the Pawnee, Pollock, Simp-
son of Texas, and Dudley Dean. Jenkins was made
major, Woodbury Kane, Day, and Frantz, captains,
and Greenway and Goodrich first lieutenants, for
gallantry in action, and for the efficiency with which
the first had handled his squadron, and the other five
their troops — for each of them, owing to some ac-
cident to his superior, found himself in command of
his troop.

Dr. Church had worked quite as hard as any man
at the front in caring for the wounded ; as had Chap-
lain Brown. Lieutenant Keyes, who acted as ad-
jutant, did so well that he was given the position
permanently. Lieutenant Coleman similarly won
the position of quartermaster.

We finished digging the trench soon after mid-
night, and then the wornout men lay down in rows
on their rifles and dropped heavily to sleep. About
one in ten of them had blankets taken from the Span-
iards. Henry Bardshar, my orderly, had procured
one for me. He, Goodrich, and I slept together.
If the men without blankets had not been so tired
that they fell asleep anyhow, they would have been
very cold, for, of course, we were all drenched with
sweat, and above the waist had on nothing but our
flannel shirts, while the night was cool, with a heavy
dew.

Before any one had time to wake from the cold,

152 The Rough Riders

however, we were all awakened by the Spaniards,
whose skirmishers suddenly opened fire on us.
Of course,, we could not tell whether or not this
was the forerunner of a heavy attack, for our Cos-
sack posts were responding briskly. It was about
three o'clock in the morning, at which time men's
courage is said to be at the lowest ebb ; but the cav-
alry division was certainly free from any weakness
in that direction. At the alarm everybody jumped
to his feet, and the stiff, shivering, haggard men,
their eyes only half-opened, all clutched their rifles
and ran forward to the trench on the crest of the
hill.

The sputtering shots died away and we went to
sleep again. But in another hour dawn broke and
the Spaniards opened fire in good earnest. There
was a little tree only a few feet away, under which
I made my headquarters, and while I was lying
there, with Goodrich and Keyes, a shrapnel burst
among us, not hurting us in the least, but with the
sweep of its bullets killing or wounding five men in
our rear, one of whom was a singularly gallant
young Harvard fellow, Stanley Hollister. An
equally gallant young fellow from Yale, Theodore
Miller, had already been mortally wounded. Hol-
lister also died.

The Second Brigade lost more heavily than the
First; but neither its brigade commander nor any

The Cavalry at Santiago 153

of its regimental commanders was touched, while
the commander of the First Brigade and two of its
three regimental commanders had been killed or
wounded.

In this fight our regiment had numbered 490 men,
as, in addition to the killed and wounded of the first
fight, some had had to go to the hospital for sick-
ness and some had been left behind with the bag-
gage, or were detailed on other duty. Eighty-nine
were killed and wounded : the heaviest loss suffered
by any regiment in the cavalry division. The Span-
iards made a stiff fight, standing firm until we
charged home. They fought much more stubbornly
than at Las Guasimas. We ought to have expected
this, for they have always done well in holding in-
trenchments. On this day they showed themselves
to be brave foes, worthy of honor for their gal-
lantry.

In the attack on the San Juan hills our forces num-
bered about 6,600.* There were about 4,500 Span-

* According to the official reports, 5,104 officers and men of
Kent's infantry, and 2,649 of the cavalry had been landed. My
regiment is put down as 542 strong, instead of the real figure.
490, the difference being due to men who were in hospital and
on guard at the seashore, etc. In other words, the total rep-
resents the total landed; the details, etc., are included. Gen-
eral Wheeler, in his report of July 7th, puts these details as
about fifteen per cent of the whole of the force which was on
the transports ; about eighty-five per cent got forward and was
in the fight.

iS4 The Rough Riders

iards against us.* Our total loss in killed and
wounded was 1,071. Of the cavalry division there
were, all told, some 2,300 officers and men, of

* The total Spanish force in Santiago under General Linares
was 6,000: 4,000 regulars, 1,000 volunteers, and 1,000 marines
and sailors from the ships. (Diary of the British Consul,
Frederick W. Ramsden, entry of July 1st.) Four thousand
more troops entered next day. Of the 6,000 troops, 600 or
thereabouts were at El Caney, and 900 in the forts at the
mouth of the harbor. Lieutenant Tejeiro states that there
were 520 men at El Caney, 970 in the forts at the mouth of
the harbor, and 3,000 in the lines, not counting the cavalry
and civil guard which were in reserve. He certainly very
much understates the Spanish force; thus he nowhere ac-
counts for the engineers mentioned on p. 135; and his figures
would make the total number of Spanish artillerymen but 32.
He excludes the cavalry, the civil guard, and the marines
which had been stationed at the Plaza del Toros ; yet he later
mentions that these marines were brought up, and their com-
mander, Bustamente, severely wounded; he states that the
cavalry advanced to. cover the retreat of the infantry, and I
myself saw the cavalry come forward, for the most part dis-
mounted, when the Spaniards attempted a forward movement
late in the afternoon, and we shot many of their horses ; while
later I saw and conversed with officers and men of the civil
guard who had been wounded at the same time — this in con-
nection with returning them their wives and children, after
the latter had fled from the city. Although the engineers are
excluded, Lieutenant Tejeiro mentions that their colonel, as
well as the colonel of the artillery, was wounded. Four thou-
sand five hundred is surely an understatement of the forces
which resisted the attack of the forces under Wheeler. Lieu-
tenant Tejeiro is very careless in his figures. Thus in one
place he states that the position of San Juan was held by two
companies comprising 250 soldiers. Later he says it was held
by three companies, whose strength he puts at 300— thus mak-

The Cavalry at Santiago 155

whom 375 were killed and wounded. In the
division over a fourth of the officers were killed or
wounded, their loss being relatively half as great

ing them average 100 instead of 125 men apiece. He then
mentions another echelon of two companies, so situated as
to cross their fire with the others. Doubtless the block-house
and trenches at Fort San Juan proper were only held by three
or four hundred men; they were taken by the Sixth and Six-
teenth Infantry under Hawkins's immediate command; and
they formed but one point in the line of hills, trenches, ranch-
houses, and block-houses which the Spaniards held, and from
which we drove them. When the city capitulated later, over
8,000 unwounded troops and over 16,000 rifles and carbines
were surrendered; by that time the marines and sailors had
of course gone, and the volunteers had disbanded.

In all these figures I have taken merely the statements from
the Spanish side. I am inclined to think the actual numbers
were much greater than those here given. Lieutenant Wiley,
in his book "In Cuba with Shafter," which is practically an
official statement, states that nearly 11,000 Spanish troops were
surrendered; and this is the number given by the Spaniards
themselves in the remarkable letter the captured soldiers ad-
dressed to General Shafter, which Wiley quotes in full. Lieu-
tenant Tejeiro, in his chap, xiv., explains that the volunteers
had disbanded before the end came, and the marines and sail-
ors had of course gone, while nearly a thousand men had been
killed or captured or had died of wounds and disease, so that
there must have been at least 14,000 all told. Subtracting the
reinforcements who arrived on the 2d, this would mean about
10,000 Spaniards present on the ist; in which case Kent and
Wheeler were opposed by at least equal numbers.

In dealing with the Spanish losses, Lieutenant Tejeiro con-
tradicts himself. He puts their total loss on this day at 593,
including 94 killed, 121 missing, and 2 prisoners — 217 in all.
Yet he states that of the 520 men at Caney but 80 got back,
the remaining 440 being killed, captured, or missing. When

156 The Rough Riders

again as that of the enlisted men — which was as it
should be.

I think we suffered more heavily than the Span-
iards did in killed and wounded (though we also
captured some scores of prisoners). It would have
been very extraordinary if the reverse was the case,
for we did the charging; and to carry earthworks
on foot with dismounted cavalry, when these earth-
works are held by unbroken infantry armed with the
best modern rifles, is a serious task.

we captured the city we found in the hospitals over 2,000 seri-
ously wounded and sick Spaniards; on making inquiries, I
found that over a third were wounded. From these facts I
feel that it is safe to put down the total Spanish loss in bat-
tle as at least 1,200, of whom over a thousand were killed and
wounded.

Lieutenant Tejeiro, while rightly claiming credit for the
courage shown by the Spaniards, also praises the courage and
resolution of the Americans, saying that they fought, "con
un arrojo y una decision verdaderamente admirables." He
dwells repeatedly upon the determination with which our
troops kept charging though themselves unprotected by cover.
As for the Spanish troops, all who fought them that day will
most freely admit the courage they showed. At El Caney,
where they were nearly hemmed in, they made a most des-
perate defence ; at San Juan the way to retreat was open, and
so, though they were seven times as numerous, they fought
with less desperation, but still very gallantly.

IN THE TRENCHES

\\ T HEN the shrapnel burst among us on the hill-
V V side we made up our minds that we had
better settle down to solid siege work. All of the
men who were not in the trenches I took off to the
right, back of the Catling guns, where there was
a valley, and dispersed them by troops in sheltered
parts. It took us an hour or two's experimenting
to find out exactly what spots were free from dan-
ger, because some of the Spanish sharp-shooters
were in trees in our front, where we could not pos-
sibly place them from the trenches ; and these were
able to reach little hollows and depressions where
the men were entirely safe from the Spanish artil-
lery and from their trench-fire. Moreover, in one
hollow, which we thought safe, the Spaniards suc-
ceeded in dropping a shell, a fragment of which
went through the head of one of my men, who, as-
tonishing to say, lived, although unconscious, for
two hours afterward. Finally, I got all eight troops
settled, and the men promptly proceeded to make
themselves as much at home as possible. For the

(157)

158 The Rough Riders

next twenty-four hours, however, the amount of
comfort was small, as in the way of protection and
covering we only had what blankets, raincoats, and
hammocks we took from the dead Spaniards. Am-
munition, which was, of course, the most vital need,
was brought up in abundance; but very little food
reached us. That afternoon we had just enough to
allow each man for his supper two hardtacks, and
one hardtack extra for every four men.

During the first night we had dug trenches suf-
ficient in length and depth to shelter our men and
insure safety against attack, but we had not put in
any traverses or approaches, nor had we arranged
the trenches at all points in the best places for of-
fensive work; for we were working at night on
ground which we had but partially explored. Later
on an engineer officer stated that he did not think
our work had been scientific ; and I assured him that
I did not doubt that he was right, for I had never
before seen a trench, excepting those we captured
from the Spaniards, or heard of a traverse, save as
I vaguely remembered reading about them in books.
For such work as we were engaged in, however, the
problem of intrenchment was comparatively simple,
and the work we did proved entirely adequate. No
man in my regiment was ever hit in the trenches or
going in or out of them.

But on the first day there was plenty of excite-

In the Trenches 159

ment connected with relieving the firing line. Un-
der the intense heat, crowded down in cramped
attitudes in the rank, newly dug, poisonous soil of
the trenches, the men needed to be relieved every
six hours or so. Accordingly, in the late morning,
and again in the afternoon, I arranged for their re-
lease. On each occasion I waited until there was a
lull in the firing and then started a sudden rush by
the relieving party, who tumbled into the trenches
every which way. The movement resulted on each
occasion in a terrific outburst of fire from the Span-
ish lines, which proved quite harmless; and as it
gradually died away the men who had been re-
lieved got out as best they could. Fortunately,
by the next day I was able to abandon this primitive,
though thrilling and wholly novel, military method
of relief.

When the hardtack came up that afternoon I felt
much sympathy for the hungry unfortunates in the
trenches and hated to condemn them to six hours
more without food ; but I did not know how to get
food in to them. Little McGinty, the bronco buster,
volunteered to make the attempt, and I gave him per-
mission. He simply took a case of hardtack in his
arms and darted toward the trenches. The dis-
tance was but short, and though there was an out-
burst of fire, he was actually missed. One bullet,
however, passed through the case of hardtack just

160 The Rough Riders

before he disappeared with it into the trench. A
trooper named Shanafelt repeated the feat, later,
with a pail of coffee. Another trooper, George
King, spent a leisure hour in the rear making soup
out of some rice and other stuff he found in a Span-
ish house; he brought some of it to General Wood,
Jack Greenway, and myself, and nothing could have
tasted more delicious.

At this time our army in the trenches numbered
about 11,000 men, and the Spaniards in Santiago
about 9,000,* their reinforcements having just ar-
rived. Nobody on the firing-line, whatever was
the case in the rear, felt the slightest uneasiness as
to the Spaniards being able to break out ; but there
were plenty who doubted the advisability of trying
to rush the heavy earthworks and wire defences in
our front.

All day long the firing continued — musketry and
cannon. Our artillery gave up the attempt to fight
on the firing-line, and was withdrawn well to the
rear out of range of the Spanish rifles ; so far as we
could see, it accomplished very little. The dyna-

* This is probably an understatement. Lieutenant Muller,
in chap, xxxviii. of his book, says that there were "eight or
nine thousand;" this is exclusive of the men from the fleet,
and apparently also of many of the volunteers (see chap, xiv.),
all of whom were present on July 2d. I am inclined to think
that on the evening of that day there were more Spanish
troops inside Santiago than there were American troops out-
side.

In the Trenches 161

mite gun was brought up to the right of the regi-
mental line. It was more effective than the regular
artillery because it was fired with smokeless powder,
and as it was used like a mortar from behind the
hill, it did not betray its presence, and those firing
it suffered no loss. Every few shots it got out of
order, and the Rough Rider machinists and those
furnished by Lieutenant Parker — whom we by this
time began to consider as an exceedingly valuable
member of our own regiment — would spend an hour
or two in setting it right. Sergeant Borrowe had
charge of it and handled it well. With him was
Sergeant Guitilias, a gallant old fellow, a veteran
of the Civil War, whose duties were properly those
of standard-bearer, he having charge of the yellow
cavalry standard of the regiment; but in the Cuban
campaign he was given the more active work of
helping run the dynamite gun. The shots from the
dynamite gun made a terrific explosion, but they
did not seem to go accurately. Once one of them
struck a Spanish trench and wrecked part of it. On
another occasion one struck a big building, from
which there promptly swarmed both Spanish cav-
alry and infantry, on whom the Colt automatic guns
played with good effect during the minute that
elapsed before they could get other cover.

These Colt automatic guns were not, on the whole,
very successful. The gun detail was under the

162 The Rough Riders

charge of Sergeant (afterward Lieutenant) Tif-
fany, assisted by some of our best men, like Ste-
phens, Crowninshield, Bradley, Smith, and Herrig.
The guns were mounted on tripods. They were
too heavy for men to carry any distance and we
could not always get mules. They would have been
more effective if mounted on wheels, as the Gat-
lings were. Moreover, they proved more delicate
than the Catlings, and very readily got out of order.
A further and serious disadvantage was that they
did not use the Krag ammunition, as the Catlings
did, but the Mauser ammunition. The Spanish car-
tridges which we captured came in quite handily
for this reason. Parker took the same fatherly in-
terest in these two Colts that he did in the dynamite
gun, and finally I put all three and their men under
his immediate care, so that he had a battery of seven
guns.

In fact, I think Parker deserved rather more
credit than any other one man in the entire cam-
paign. I do not allude especially to his courage
and energy, great though they were, for there were
hundreds of his fellow-officers of the cavalry and in-
fantry who possessed as much of the former quality,
and scores who possessed as much of the latter;
but he had the rare good judgment and foresight to
see the possibilities of the machine-guns, and thanks
to the aid of General Shatter, he was able to or-

In the Trenches 163

ganize his battery. He then, by his own exertions,
got it to the front and proved that it could do in-
valuable work on the field of battle, as much in at-
tack as in defence. Parker's Catlings were our
inseparable companions throughout the siege. After
our trenches were put in final shape, he took off
the wheels of a couple and placed them with our
own two Colts in the trenches. His gunners slept
beside the Rough Riders in the bomb-proofs, and
the men shared with one another when either side
got a supply of beans or of coffee and sugar; for
Parker was as wide-awake and energetic in getting
food for his men as we prided ourselves upon being
in getting food for ours. Besides, he got oil, and
let our men have plenty for their rifles. At no hour
of the day or night was Parker anywhere but where
we wished him to be in the event of an attack. If
I was ordered to send a troop of Rough Riders to
guard some road or some break in the lines, we
usually got Parker to send a Catling along, and
whether the change was made by day or by night,
the Catlings went, over any ground and in any
weather. He never exposed the Catlings needlessly
or unless there was some object to be gained, but
if serious fighting broke out, he always took a hand.
Sometimes this fighting would be the result of an
effort on our part to quell the fire from the Span-
ish trenches; sometimes the Spaniards took the ini-

164 The Rough Riders

tiative; but at whatever hour of the twenty-four
serious fighting began, the drumming of the Gat-
lings was soon heard through the cracking of our
own carbines.

I have spoken thus of Parker's Catling detach-
ment. How can I speak highly enough of the regu-
lar cavalry with whom it was our good fo*rtune to
serve? I do not believe that in any army of the
world could be found a more gallant and soldierly
body of fighters than the officers and men of the
First, Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth United
States Cavalry, beside whom we marched to blood-
bought victory under the tropic skies of Santiago.
The American regular sets the standard of excel-
lence. When we wish to give the utmost possible
praise to a volunteer organization, we say that it is
as good as the regulars. I was exceedingly proud
of the fact that the regulars treated my regiment as
on a complete equality with themselves, and were
as ready to see it in a post of danger and respon-
sibility as to see any of their own battalions. Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Dorst, a man from whom praise
meant a good deal, christened us "the Eleventh
United States Horse," and we endeavored, I think
I may say successfully, to show that we deserved the
title by our conduct, not only in fighting and in
marching, but in guarding the trenches and in po-
licing camp. In less than sixty days the regiment

In the Trenches 165

had been raised, organized, armed, equipped, drilled,
mounted, dismounted, kept for a fortnight on trans-
ports, and put through two victorious aggressive
fights in very difficult country, the loss in killed and
wounded amounting to a quarter of those engaged.
This is a record which it is not easy to match in the
history of volunteer organizations. The loss was
but small compared to that which befell hundreds
of regiments in some of the great battles of the later
years of the Civil War; but it may be doubted
whether there was any regiment which made such
a record during the first months of any of our wars.
After the battle of San Juan my men had really
become veterans; they and I understood each other
perfectly, and trusted each other implicitly; they
knew I would share every hardship and danger with
them, would do everything in my power to see that
they were fed, and so far as might be, sheltered and
spared; and in return I knew that they would en-
dure every kind of hardship and fatigue without a
murmur and face every danger with entire fearless-
ness. I felt utter confidence in them, and would
have been more than willing to put them to any
task which any crack regiment of the world, at home
or abroad, could perform. They were natural fight-
ers, men of great intelligence, great courage, great
hardihood, and physical prowess ; and I could draw
on these qualities and upon their spirit of ready, sol-

1 66 The Rough Riders

dierly obedience to make up for any deficiencies in
the technique of the trade which they had tempo-
rarily adopted. It must be remembered that they
were already good individual fighters, skilled in the
use of the horse and the rifle, so that there was no
need of putting them through the kind of training
in which the ordinary raw recruit must spend his
first year or two.

On July 2d, as the day wore on, the fight, though
raging fitfully at intervals, gradually died away.
The Spanish guerillas were causing us much trouble.
They showed great courage, exactly as did their
soldiers who were defending the trenches. In fact,
the Spaniards throughout showed precisely the
qualities they did early in the century, when, as
every student will remember, their fleets were a
helpless prey to the English warships, and their
armies utterly unable to stand in the open against
those of Napoleon's marshals, while on the other
hand their guerillas performed marvelous feats, and
their defence of intrenchments and walled towns, as
at Saragossa and Gerona, were the wonder of the
civilized world.

In our front their sharp-shooters crept up before
dawn and either lay in the thick jungle or climbed
into some tree with dense foliage. In these places
it proved almost impossible to place them, as they
kept cover very carefully, and their smokeless pow-

In the Trenches 167

der betrayed not the slightest sign of their where-
abouts. They caused us a great deal of annoyance
and some little loss, and though our own sharp-
shooters were continually taking shots at the places
where they supposed them to be, and though oc-
casionally we would play a Catling or a Colt all
through the top of a suspicious tree, I but twice saw
Spaniards brought down out of their perches from
in front of our lines — on each occasion the fall of
the Spaniard being hailed with loud cheers by our
men.

These sharp-shooters in our front did perfectly
legitimate work, and were entitled to all credit for
their courage and skill. It was different with the
guerillas in our rear. Quite a number of these had
been posted in trees at the time of the San Juan
fight. They were using, not Mausers, but Reming-
tons, which shot smokeless powder and a brass-
coated bullet. It was one of these bullets which had
hit Winslow Clark by my side on Kettle Hill ; and
though for long-range fighting the Remingtons
were, of course, nothing like as good as the Mau-
sers, they were equally serviceable for short-range
bush work, as they used smokeless powder. When
our troops advanced and the Spaniards in the tren-
ches and in reserve behind the hill fled, the guerillas
in the trees had no time to get away and in conse-
quence were left in the rear of our lines. As we

1 68 The Rough Riders

found out from the prisoners we took, the Spanish
officers had been careful to instil into the minds of
their soldiers the belief that the Americans never
granted quarter, and I suppose it was in conse-
quence of this that the guerillas did not surrender;
for we found that the Spaniards were anxious
enough to surrender as soon as they became con-
vinced that we would treat them mercifully. At
any rate, these guerillas kept up in their trees and
showed not only courage but wanton cruelty and
barbarity. At times they fired upon armed men in
bodies, but they much preferred for their victims
the unarmed attendants, the doctors, the chaplains,
the hospital stewards. They fired at the men who
were bearing off the wounded in litters; they fired
at the doctors who came to the front, and at the
chaplains who started to hold burial service; the
conspicuous Red Cross brassard worn by all of these
non-combatants, instead of serving as a protection,
seemed to make them the special objects of the
guerilla fire. So annoying did they become that I
sent out that afternoon and next morning a detail
of picked sharp-shooters to hunt them out, choos-
ing, of course, first-class woodsmen and mountain
men who were also good shots. My sharp-shooters
felt very vindictively toward these guerillas and
showed them no quarter. They started systemati-
cally to hunt them, and showed themselves much

In the Trenches 169

superior at the guerillas' own game, killing eleven,
while not one of my men was scratched. Two of
the men who did conspicuously good service in this
work were Troopers Goodwin and Proffit, both of
Arizona, but one by birth a Californian and the
other a North Carolinian. Goodwin was a natu-
ral shot, not only with the rifle and revolver, but
with the sling. Proffit might have stood as a type
of the mountaineers described by John Fox and
Miss Murfree. He was a tall, sinewy, handsome
man of remarkable strength, an excellent shot and
a thoroughly good soldier. His father had been
a Confederate officer, rising from the ranks*, and if
the war had lasted long enough the son would have
risen in the same manner. As it was, I should
have been glad to have given him a commission,
exactly as I should have been glad to have given a
number of others in the regiment commissions, if
I had only had them. Proffit was a saturnine, re-
served man, who afterward fell very sick with the
fever, and who, as a reward for his soldierly good
conduct, was often granted unusual privileges; but
he took the fever and the privileges with the same
iron indifference, never grumbling, and never ex-
pressing satisfaction.

The sharp-shooters returned by nightfall. Soon
afterward I established my pickets and outposts
well to the front in the jungle, so as to prevent all

VOL. XI.— H

1 70 The Rough Riders

possibility of surprise. After dark, fires suddenly
shot up on the mountain passes far to our right.
They all rose together and we could make nothing
of them. After a good deal of consultation, we
decided they must be some signals to the Spaniards
in Santiago, from the troops marching to reinforce
them from without — for we were ignorant that the
reinforcements had already reached the city, the
Cubans being quite unable to prevent the Spanish
regulars from marching wherever they wished.
While we were thus pondering over the watch-fires
and attributing them to Spanish machinations of
some sort, it appears that the Spaniards, equally
puzzled, were setting them down as an attempt at
communication between the insurgents and our
army. Both sides were accordingly on the alert,
and the Spaniards must have strengthened their out-
lying parties in the jungle ahead of us, for they
suddenly attacked one of our pickets, wounding
Crockett seriously. He was brought in by the
other troopers. Evidently the Spanish lines felt
a little nervous, for this sputter of shooting was im-
mediately followed by a tremendous fire of great
guns and rifles from their trenches and batteries.
Our men in the trenches responded heavily, and
word was sent back, not only to me, but to the com-
manders in the rear of the regiments along our
line, that the Spaniards were attacking. It was im-

In the Trenches 171

perative to see what was really going on, so I ran
up to the trenches and looked out. At night it
was far easier to place the Spanish lines than by day,
because the flame-spurts shone in the darkness. I
could soon tell that there were bodies of Spanish
pickets or skirmishers in the jungle-covered valley,
between their lines and ours, but that the bulk of
the fire came from their trenches and showed not
the slightest symptom of advancing; moreover, as
is generally the case at night, the fire was almost all
high, passing well overhead, with an occasional bul-
let near by.

I came to the conclusion that there was no use
in our firing back under such circumstances; and
I could tell that the same conclusion had been
reached by Captain Ay res of the Tenth Cavalry on
the right of my line, for even above the cracking of
the carbines rose the Captain's voice as with varied
and picturesque language he bade his black troopers
cease firing. The Captain was as absolutely fearless
as a man can be. He had command of his regimen-
tal trenches that night, and, having run up at the
first alarm, had speedily satisfied himself that no
particular purpose was served by blazing away in
the dark, when the enormous majority of the Span-
iards were simply shooting at random from their
own trenches, and, if they ever had thought of ad-
vancing, had certainly given up the idea. His

172 The Rough Riders

troopers were devoted to him, would follow him
anywhere, and would do anything he said; but
when men get firing at night it is rather difficult to
stop them, especially when the fire of the enemy in
front continues unabated. When he first reached
the trenches it was impossible to say whether or not
there was an actual night attack impending, and he
had been instructing his men, as I instructed mine,
to fire low, cutting the grass in front. As soon as
he became convinced that there was no night attack,
he ran up and down the line adjuring and command-
ing the troopers to cease shooting, with words and
phrases which were doubtless not wholly unlike
those which the Old Guard really did use at
Waterloo.

As I ran down my own line, I could see him
coming up his, and he saved me all trouble in stop-
ping the fire at the right, where the lines met, for
my men there all dropped everything to listen to him
and cheer and laugh. Soon we got the troopers in
hand, and made them cease firing ; then, after a while
the Spanish fire died down. At the time we spoke
of this as a night attack by the Spaniards, but it
really was not an attack at all. Ever after my men
had a great regard for Ayres, and would have fol-
lowed him anywhere.

I shall never forget the way in which he scolded
his huge, devoted black troopers, generally ending

In the Trenches 173

with "I'm ashamed of you, ashamed of you! I
wouldn't have believed it! Firing; when I told
you to stop! I'm ashamed of you!"

That night we spent in perfecting the trenches
and arranging entrances to them, doing about as
much work as we had the preceding night. Green-
way and Goodrich, from their energy, eagerness to
do every duty, and great physical strength, were pe-
culiarly useful in this work ; as, indeed, they were in
all work. They had been up practically the entire
preceding night, but they were too good men for me
to spare them, nor did they wish to be spared ; and I
kept them up all this night too. Goodrich had also
been on guard as officer of the day the night we
were at El Paso, so that it turned out that he spent
nearly four days and three nights with practically
hardly any sleep at all.

Next morning, at daybreak, the firing began
again. This day, the 3d, we suffered nothing, save
having one man wounded by a sharp-shooter, and,
thanks to the approaches to the trenches, we were
able to relieve the guards without any difficulty.
The Spanish sharp-shooters in the trees and jungle
nearby, however, annoyed us very much, and I made
preparations to fix them next day. With this end
in view I chose out some twenty first-class men, in
many instances the same that I had sent after the
guerillas, and arranged that each should take his

174 The Rough Riders

canteen and a little food. They were to slip into
the jungle between us and the Spanish lines before
dawn next morning, and there to spend the day, get-
ting as close to the Spanish lines as possible, moving
about with great stealth, and picking off any hostile
sharp-shooter, as well as any soldier who exposed
himself in the trenches. I had plenty of men who
possessed a training in wood-craft that fitted them
for this work ; and as soon as the rumor got abroad
what I was planning, volunteers thronged to me.
Daniels and Love were two of the men always to the
front in any enterprise of this nature ; so were Wads-
worth, the two Bulls, Fortescue, and Cowdin. But
I could not begin to name all the troopers who so
eagerly craved the chance to win honor out of hazard
and danger.

Among them was good, solemn Fred Herrig, the
Alsatian. I knew Fred's patience and skill as a
hunter from the trips we had taken together after
deer and mountain sheep through the Bad Lands
of the Little Missouri. He still spoke English with
what might be called Alsatian variations — he always
spoke of the gun detail as the "gondetle," with the
accent on the first syllable — and he expressed a wish
to be allowed "a holiday from the gondetle to go
after dem gorrillas." I told him he could have the
holiday, but to his great disappointment the truce
came first, and then Fred asked that, inasmuch as

In the Trenches 175

the "gorrillas" were now forbidden game, he might
be allowed to go after guinea-hens instead.

Even after the truce, however, some of my sharp-
shooters had occupation, for two guerillas in our
rear took occasional shots at the men who were
bathing in a pond, until one of our men spied them,
when they were both speedily brought down. One
of my riflemen who did best at this kind of work, by
the way, got into trouble because of it. He was
much inflated by my commendation of him, and
when he went back to his troop he declined to obey
the first Sergeant's orders on the ground that he was
"the Colonel's sharp-shooter." The Lieutenant in
command, being somewhat puzzled, brought him to
me, and I had to explain that if the offence, disobe-
dience of orders in face of the enemy, was repeated
he might incur the death penalty ; whereat he looked
very crestfallen. That afternoon he got permission,
like Fred Herrig, to go after guinea-hens, which
were found wild in some numbers round about ; and
he sent me the only one he got as a peace offering.
The few guinea-hens thus procured were all used
for the sick.

Dr. Church had established a little field hospital
under the shoulder of the hill in our rear. He was
himself very sick and had almost nothing in the way
of medicine or supplies or apparatus of any kind,
but the condition of the wounded in the big field

176 The Rough Riders

hospitals in the rear was so horrible, from the lack
of attendants as well as of medicines, that we kept
all the men we possibly could at the front. Some
of them had now begun to come down with fever.
They were all very patient, but it was pitiful to see
the sick and wounded soldiers lying on their blank-
ets, if they had any, and if not then simply in the
mud, with nothing to eat but hardtack and pork,
which of course they could not touch when their
fever got high, and with no chance to get more than
the rudest attention. Among the very sick here
was gallant Captain Llewellen. I feared he was
going to die. We finally had to send him to one of
the big hospitals in the rear. Doctors Brewer and
Fuller of the Tenth had been unwearying in attend-
ing to the wounded, including many of those of my
regiment.

At twelve o'clock we were notified to stop firing
and a flag of truce was sent in to demand the sur-
render of the city. The negotiations gave us a
breathing spell.

That afternoon I arranged to get our baggage
up, sending back strong details of men to carry up
their own goods, and, as usual, impressing into the
service a kind of improvised pack-train consisting of
the officers' horses, of two or three captured Spanish
cavalry horses, two or three mules which had been
shot and abandoned and which our men had taken

In the Trenches 177

and cured, and two or three Cuban ponies. Hither-
to we had simply been sleeping by the trenches or
immediately in their rear, with nothing in the way
of shelter and only one blanket to every three or
four men. Fortunately there had been little
rain.

We now got up the shelter tents of the men and
some flies for the hospital and for the officers;
and my personal baggage appeared. I celebrated
its advent by a thorough wash and shave.

Later, I twice snatched a few hours to go to the
rear and visit such of my men as I could find in the
hospitals. Their patience was extraordinary. Ken-
neth Robinson, a gallant young trooper, though
himself severely (I supposed at the time mortally)
wounded, was noteworthy for the way in which he
tended those among the wounded who were even
more helpless, and the cheery courage with which
he kept up their spirits. Gievers, who was shot
through the hips, rejoined us at the front in a fort-
night. Captain Day was hardly longer away. Jack
Hammer, who, with poor Race Smith, a gallant
Texas lad who was mortally hurt beside me on the
summit of the hill, had been on kitchen detail, was
wounded and sent to the rear ; he was ordered to go
to the United States, but he heard that we were to
assault Santiago, so he struggled out to join us, and
thereafter stayed at the front. Cosby, badly

1 78 The Rough Riders

wounded, made his way down to the sea-coast in
three days, unassisted.

With all volunteer troops, and I am inclined to
think with regulars, too, in time of trial, the best
work can be got out of the men only if the officers
endure the same hardships and face the same risks.
In my regiment, as in the whole cavalry division, the
proportion of loss in killed and wounded was con-
siderably greater among the officers than among
the troopers, and this was exactly as it should be.
Moreover, when we got down to hard pan, we all,
officers and men, fared exactly alike as regards both
shelter and food. This prevented any grumbling.
When the troopers saw that the officers had nothing
but hardtack, there was not a man in the regiment
who would not have been ashamed to grumble at
faring no worse, and when all alike slept out in the
open, in the rear of the trenches, and when the
men always saw the field officers up at night, during
the digging of the trenches, and going the rounds
of the outposts, they would not tolerate, in any of
their number, either complaint or shirking work.
When things got easier I put up my tent and lived
a Tittle apart, for it is a mistake for an officer ever
to grow too familiar with his men, no matter how
good they are; and it is of course the greatest pos-
sible mistake to seek popularity either by showing
weakness or by mollycoddling the men. They will

In the Trenches i?9

never respect a commander who does not enforce
discipline, who does not know his duty, and who is
not willing both himself to encounter and to make
them encounter every species of danger and hard-
ship when necessary. The soldiers who do not feel
this way are not worthy of the name and should be
handled with iron severity until they become fight-
ing men and not shams. In return the officer
should carefully look after his men, should see that
they are well fed and well sheltered, and that, no
matter how much they may grumble, they keep the
camp fhoroughly policed.

After the cessation of the three days' fighting we
began to get our rations regularly and had plenty of
hardtack and salt pork, and usually about half the
ordinary amount of sugar and coffee. It was not
a very good ration for the tropics, however, and was
of very little use indeed to the sick and half sick.
On one or two occasions during the siege I got my
improvised pack-train together and either took or
sent it down to the sea-coast for beans, canned to-
matoes, and the like. We got these either from the
transports which were still landing stores on the
beach or" from the Red Cross. If I did not go my-
self I sent some man who had shown that he was a
driving, energetic, tactful fellow, who would some-
how get what we wanted. Chaplain Brown de-
veloped great capacity in this line, and so did one

i8o The Rough Riders

of the troopers named Knoblauch, he who had
dived after the rifles that had sunk off the pier at
Daiquiri. The supplies of food we got in this way
had a very beneficial effect, not only upon the men's
health, but upon their spirits. To the Red Cross
and similar charitable organizations we owe a great
deal. We also owed much to Colonel Weston of
the Commissary Department, who always helped
us and never let himself be hindered by red tape;
thus he always let me violate the absurd regulation
which forbade me, even in war time, to purchase
food for my men from the stores, although letting
me purchase for the officers. I, of course, paid
no heed to the regulation when by violating it I
could get beans, canned tomatoes, or tobacco.
Sometimes I used my own money, sometimes what
was given me by Woody Kane, or what was sent me
by my brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, or by the
other Red Cross people in New York. My regiment
did not fare very well; but I think it fared better
than any other. Of course no one would have
minded in the least such hardships as we endured
had there been any need of enduring them ; but there
was none. System and sufficiency of transporta-
tion were all that were needed.

On one occasion a foreign military attache vis-
ited my headquarters together with a foreign cor-
respondent who had been through the Turco-Greek

In the Trenches 181

war. They were both most friendly critics, and as
they knew I was aware of this, the correspondent
finally ventured the remark, that he thought our sol-
diers fought even better than the Turks, but that on
the whole our system of military administration
seemed rather worse than that of the Greeks. As a
nation we had prided ourselves on our business ability
and adroitness in the arts of peace, while outsiders, at
any rate, did not credit us with any especial warlike
prowess ; and it was curious that when war came we
should have broken down precisely on the business
and administrative side, while the fighting edge of
the troops certainly left little to be desired.

I was very much touched by the devotion my
men showed to me. After they had once become
convinced that I would share their hardships, they
made it a point that I should not suffer any hard-
ships at all; and I really had an extremely easy
time. Whether I had any food or not myself made
no difference, as there were sure to be certain
troopers, and, indeed, certain troop messes, on the
lookout for me. If they had any beans they would
send me over a cupful, or I would suddenly receive
a present of doughnuts from some ex-roundup cook
who had succeeded in obtaining a little flour and
sugar, and if a man shot a guinea-hen it was all I
could do to make him keep half of it for himself.
Wright, the color sergeant, and Henry Bardshar,

1 82 The Rough Riders

my orderly, always pitched and struck my tent and
built me a bunk of bamboo poles, whenever we
changed camp. So I personally endured very little
discomfort; for, of course, no one minded the two
or three days preceding or following each fight, when
we all had to get along as best we could. Indeed,
as long as we were under fire or in the immediate
presence of the enemy, and I had plenty to do, there
was nothing of which I could legitimately complain ;
and what I really did regard as hardships, my men
did not object to — for later on, when we had some
leisure, I would have given much for complete soli-
tude and some good books.

Whether there was a truce, or whether, as some-
times happened, we were notified that there was no
truce but merely a further cessation of hostilities by
tacit agreement, or whether the fight was on, we
kept equally vigilant watch, especially at night. In
the trenches every fourth man kept awake, the
others sleeping beside or behind him on their rifles ;
and the Cossack post and pickets were pushed out
in advance beyond the edge of the jungle. At least
once a night at some irregular hour I tried to visit
every part of our line, especially if it was dark and
rainy, although sometimes, when the lines were in
charge of some officer like Wilcox or Kane, Green-
way or Goodrich, I became lazy, took off my boots,
and slept all night through. Sometimes at night

In the Trenches 183

I went not only along the lines of our own brigade,
but of the brigades adjoining. It was a matter of
pride, not only with me, but with all our men, that
the lines occupied by the Rough Riders should be at
least as vigilantly guarded as the lines of any reg-
ular regiment.

Sometimes at night, when I met other officers
inspecting their lines, we would sit and talk over
matters, and wonder what shape the outcome of the
siege would take. We knew we would capture
Santiago, but exactly how we would do it we could
not tell. The failure to establish any depot for pro-
visions on the fighting-line, where there was hardly
ever more than twenty- four hours' food ahead, made
the risk very serious. If a hurricane had struck the
transports, scattering them to the four winds, or if
three days of heavy rain had completely broken up
our communication, as they assuredly would have
done, we would have been at starvation point on the
front; and while, of course, we would have lived
through it somehow and would have taken the city,
it would only have been after very disagreeable ex-
periences. As soon as I was able I accumulated for
my own regiment about forty-eight hours' hardtack
and salt pork, which I kept so far as possible intact
to provide against any emergency.

If the city could be taken without direct assault
on the intrenchments and wire entanglements, we

1 84 The Rough Riders

earnestly hoped it would be, for such an assault
meant, as we knew by past experience, the loss of
a quarter of the attacking regiments (and we were
bound that the Rough Riders should be one of these
attacking regiments, if the attack had to be made).
There was, of course, nobody who would not rather
have assaulted than have run the risk of failure;
but we hoped the city would fall without need aris-
ing for us to suffer the great loss of life which a
further assault would have entailed.

Naturally, the colonels and captains had nothing
to say in the peace negotiations which dragged along
for the week following the sending in the flag of
truce. Each day we expected either to see the city
surrender, or to be told to begin fighting again,
and toward the end it grew so irksome that we
would have welcomed even an assault in preference
to further inaction. I used to discuss matters with
the officers of my own regiment now and then, and
with a few of the officers of the neighboring regi-
ments with whom I had struck up a friendship —
Parker, Stevens, Beck, Ayres, Morton, and Bough-
ton. I also saw a good deal of the excellent officers
on the staffs of Generals Wheeler and Sumner, es-
pecially Colonel Dorst, Colonel Garlington, Captain
Howze, Captain Steele, Lieutenant Andrews, and
Captain Astor Chanler, who, like myself, was a
volunteer. Chanler was an old friend and a fellow

In the Trenches 185

big-game hunter, who had done some good ex-
ploring work in Africa. I always wished I could
have had him in my regiment. As for Dorst, he
was peculiarly fitted to command a regiment. Al-
though Howze and Andrews were not in my brigade
I saw a great deal of them, especially of Howze,
who would have made a nearly ideal regimental
commander. They were both natural cavalry-men
and of most enterprising natures, ever desirous of
pushing to the front and of taking the boldest course.
The view Howze always took of every emergency
(a view which found prompt expression in his ac-
tions when the opportunity offered) made me feel
like an elderly conservative.

The week of non-fighting was not all a period of
truce ; part of the time was passed under a kind of
nondescript arrangement, when we were told not to
attack ourselves, but to be ready at any moment to
repulse an attack and to make preparations for
meeting it. During these times I busied myself
in putting our trenches into first-rate shape and in
building bomb-proofs and traverses. One night I
got a detail of sixty men from the First, Ninth, and
Tenth, whose officers always helped us in every way,
and with these, and with sixty of my own men, I
dug a long, zigzag trench in advance of the salient
of my line out to a knoll well in front, from which
we could command the Spanish trenches and block-

1 86 The Rough Riders

houses immediately ahead of us. On this knoll we
made a kind of bastion consisting of a deep, semi-
circular trench with sand-bags arranged along the
edge so as to constitute a wall with loop-holes. Of
course, when I came to dig this trench, I kept both
Greenway and Goodrich supervising the work all
night, and equally of course I got Parker and Stevens
to help me. By employing as many men as we did
we were able to get the work so far advanced as to
provide against interruption before the moon rose,
which was about midnight. Our pickets were
thrown far out in the jungle, to keep back the Span-
ish pickets and prevent any interference with the
diggers. The men seemed to think the work rather
good fun than otherwise, the possibility of a brush
with the Spaniards lending a zest that prevented its
growing monotonous.

Parker had taken two of his Gatlings, removed
the wheels, and mounted them in the trenches ; also
mounting the two automatic Colts where he deemed
they could do best service. With the completion
of the trenches, bomb-proofs, and traverses, and the
mounting of these guns, the fortifications of the hill
assumed quite a respectable character, and the Gat-
ling men christened it Fort Roosevelt, by which
name it afterward went.*

During the truce various military attaches and

* See Parker's "With the Gatlings at Santiago."

In the Trenches 187

foreign officers came out to visit us. Two or three
of the newspaper men, including Richard Harding
Davis, Caspar Whitney, and John Fox, had already
been out to see us, and had been in the trenches dur-
ing the firing. Among the others were Captains
Lee and Paget of the British army and navy, fine
fellows, who really seemed to take as much pride
in the feats of our men as if we had been bound
together by the ties of a common nationality instead
of the ties of race and speech kinship. Another Eng-
lish visitor was Sir Bryan Leighton, a thrice-wel-
come guest, for he most thoughtfully brought to me
half a dozen little jars of deviled ham and potted
fruit, which enabled me to summon various officers
down to my tent and hold a feast. Count von
Gotzen, and a Norwegian attache, Gedde, very good
fellows both, were also out. One day we were vis-
ited by a traveling Russian, Prince X., a large,
blond man, smooth and impenetrable. I introduced
him to one of the regular army officers, a capital
fighter and excellent fellow, who, however, viewed
foreign international politics from a strictly trans-
Mississippi standpoint. He hailed the Russian with
frank kindness and took him off to show him around
the trenches, chatting volubly, and calling him
"Prince," much as Kentuckians call one another
"Colonel." As I returned I heard him remarking:
"You see, Prince, the great result of this war is that

1 88 The Rough Riders

it has united the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon
people; and now that they are together they can
whip the world, Prince! they can whip the world!"
— being evidently filled with the pleasing belief that
the Russian would cordially sympathize with this
view. The foreign attaches did not always get on
well with our generals. The two English represen-
tatives never had any trouble, were heartily admired
by everybody, and, indeed, were generally treated
as if they were of our own number; and seemingly
so regarded themselves. But this was not always
true of the representatives from Continental Europe.
One of the latter — a very good fellow, by the way —
had not altogether approved of the way he was
treated, and the climax came when he said good-by
to the General who had special charge of him. The
General in question was not accustomed to nice eth-
nic distinctions, and grouped all of the representa-
tives from Continental Europe under the comprehen-
sive title of "Dutchmen." When the attache in ques-
tion came to say farewell, the General responded
with bluff heartiness, in which perhaps the note of
sincerity was more conspicuous than that of entire
good breeding : "Well, good-by ; sorry you're going ;
which are you, anyhow — the German or the Rus-
sian?"

Shortly after midday on the loth fighting began
again, but it soon became evident that the Spaniards

In the Trenches 189

did not have much heart in it. The American field
artillery was now under the command of General
Randolph, and he fought it effectively. A mortar
battery had also been established, though with an
utterly inadequate supply of ammunition, and this
rendered some service. Almost the only Rough
Riders who had a chance to do much firing were
the men with the Colt automatic guns, and the
twenty picked sharp-shooters, who were placed in
the newly dug little fort out at the extreme front.
Parker had a splendid time with the Catlings and the
Colts. With these machine guns he completely sil-
enced the battery in front of us. This battery had
caused us a good deal of trouble at first, as we could
not place it. It was immediately in front of the
hospital, from which many Red Cross flags were
flying, one of them floating just above this battery,
from where we looked at it. In consequence, for
some time, we did not know it was a hostile battery
at all, as, like all the other Spanish batteries, it was
using smokeless powder. It was only by the aid of
powerful glasses that we finally discovered its real
nature. The Catlings and Colts then actually put
it out of action, silencing the big guns and the two
field-pieces. Futhermore, the machine guns and our
sharp-shooters together did good work in supple-
menting the effects of the dynamite gun; for when
a shell from the latter struck near a Spanish trench,

190 The Rough Riders

or a building in which there were Spanish troops,
the shock was seemingly so great that the Spaniards
almost always showed themselves, and gave our
men a chance to do some execution.

As the evening of the loth came on, the men
began to make their coffee in sheltered places. By
this time they knew how to take care of themselves
so well that not a man was touched by the Spaniards
during the second bombardment. While I was
lying with the officers just outside one of the bomb-
proofs I saw a New Mexican trooper named Mor-
rison making his coffee under the protection of a
traverse high up on the hill. Morrison was origi-
nally a Baptist preacher who had joined the regiment
purely from a sense of duty, leaving his wife and
children, and had shown himself to be an excellent
soldier. He had evidently exactly calculated the
danger zone, and found that by getting close to the
traverse he could sit up erect and make ready his
supper without being cramped. I watched him sol-
emnly pounding the coffee with the butt end of his
revolver, and then boiling the water and frying his
bacon, just as if he had been in the lee of the round-
up wagon somewhere out on the plains.

By noon of next day, the nth, my regiment with
one of the Catlings was shifted over to the right
to guard the Caney road. We did no fighting in
our new position, for the last straggling shot had

In the Trenches 191

been fired by the time we got there. That evening
there came up the worst storm we had had, and by
midnight my tent blew over. I had for the first
time in a fortnight undressed myself completely,
and I felt fully punished for my love of luxury when
I jumped out into the driving downpour of tropic
rain, and groped blindly in the darkness for my
clothes as they lay in the liquid mud. It was Kane's
night on guard, and I knew the wretched Woody
would be out along the line and taking care of the
pickets, no matter what the storm might be; and so
I basely made my way to the kitchen tent, where
good Holderman, the Cherokee, wrapped me in dry
blankets, and put me to sleep on a table which he
had just procured from an abandoned Spanish house.

On the 1 7th the city formally surrendered and
our regiment, like the rest of the army, was dra,wn
up on the trenches. When the American flag was
hoisted the trumpets blared and the men cheered,
and we knew that the fighting part of our work was
over.

Shortly after we took our new position the First
Illinois Volunteers came up on our right. The next
day, as a result of the storm and of further rain, the
rivers were up and the roads quagmires, so that
hardly any food reached the front. My regiment
was all right, as we had provided for just such an
emergency; but the Illinois new-comers had of

The Rough Riders

course not done so, and they were literally without
anything to eat. They were fine fellows and we
could not see them suffer. I furnished them with
some beans and coffee for the elder officers and two
or three cases of hardtack for the men, and then
mounted my horse and rode down to headquarters,
half fording, half swimming the streams; and late
in the evening I succeeded in getting half a mule-
train of provisions for them.

On the morning of the 3d the Spaniards had sent
out of Santiago many thousands of women, chil-
dren, and other non-combatants, most of them be-
longing to the poorer classes, but among them not
a few of the best families. These wretched crea-
tures took very little with them. They came
through our lines and for the most part went to El
Caney in our rear, where we had to feed them and
protect them from the Cubans. As we had barely
enough food for our own men the rations of the
refugees were scanty indeed and their sufferings
great. Long before the surrender they had begun
to come to our lines to ask for provisions, and my
men gave them a good deal out of their own scanty
stores, until I had positively to forbid it and to in-
sist that the refugees should go to headquarters ; as,
however hard and merciless it seemed, I was in duty
bound to keep my own regiment at the highest pitch
of fighting efficiency.

In the Trenches 193

As soon as the surrender was assured the refu-
gees came streaming back in an endless squalid pro-
cession down the Caney road to Santiago. My
troopers, for all their roughness and their ferocity
in fight, were rather tender-hearted than otherwise,
and they helped the poor creatures, especially the
women and children, in every way, giving them
food and even carrying the children and the burdens
borne by the women. I saw one man, Happy Jack,
spend the entire day in walking to and fro for about
a quarter of a mile on both sides of our lines along
the road, carrying the bundles for a series of poor
old women, or else carrying young children. Finally
the doctor warned us that we must not touch the
bundles of the refugees for fear of infection, as
disease had broken out and was rife among them.
Accordingly I had to put a stop to these acts of
kindness on the part of my men; against which ac-
tion Happy Jack respectfully but strongly protested
upon the unexpected ground that "the Almighty
would never let a man catch a disease while he was
doing a good action/' I did not venture to take so
advanced a theological stand.

VOL. XL— I

VI

THE RETURN HOME

TWO or three days after the surrender the cav-
alry division was marched back to the foothills
west of El Caney, and there went into camp, to-
gether with the artillery. It was a most beautiful
spot beside a stream of clear water, but it was not
healthy. In fact no ground in the neighborhood
was healthy. For the tropics the climate was not
bad, and I have no question but that a man who was
able to take good care of himself could live there all
the year round with comparative impunity; but the
case was entirely different with an army which was
obliged to suffer great exposure, and to live under
conditions which almost ensured being attacked by
the severe malarial fever of the country. My own
men were already suffering badly from fever, and
they got worse rather than better in the new camp.
The same was true of the other regiments in the
cavalry division. A curious feature was that the
colored troops seemed to suffer as heavily as the
white. From week to week there were slight rela-
tive changes, but on the average all the six cavalry
regiments, the Rough Riders, the white regulars,
(194)

The Return Home 195

and the colored regulars seemed to suffer about
alike, and we were all very much weakened ; about
as much as the regular infantry, although naturally
not as much as the volunteer infantry.

Yet even under such circumstances adventurous
spirits managed to make their way out to us. In
the fortnight following the last bombardment of the
city I enlisted no less than nine such recruits, six
being from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton; and Bull,
the former Harvard oar, who had been back to the
States crippled after the first fight, actually got back
to us as a stowaway on one of the transports, bound
to share the luck of the regiment, even if it meant
yellow fever.

There were but twelve ambulances with the army,
and these were quite inadequate for their work ; but
the conditions in the large field hospital were so
bad, that as long as possible we kept all of our sick
men in the regimental hospital at the front. Dr.
Church did splendid work, although he himself was
suffering much more than half the time from fever.
Several of the men from the ranks did equally well,
especially a young doctor from New York, Harry
Thorpe, who had enlisted as a trooper, but who was
now made acting assistant-surgeon. It was with
the greatest difficulty that Church and Thorpe were
able to get proper medicine for the sick, and it was
almost the last day of our stay before we were able

196 The Rough Riders

to get cots for them. Up to that time they lay on
the ground. No food was issued suitable for them, or
for the half-sick men who were not on the doctor's
list; the two classes by this time included the bulk
of the command. Occasionally we got hold of a
wagon or of some Cuban carts, and at other times I
used my improvised pack-train (the animals of
which, however, were continually being taken away
from us by our superiors) and went or sent back to
the sea-coast at Siboney or into Santiago itself to get
rice, flour, cornmeal, oatmeal, condensed milk, pota-
toes, and canned vegetables. The rice I bought in
Santiago; the best of the other stuff I got from the
Red Cross through Mr. George Kennan and Miss
Clara Barton and Dr. Lesser; but some of it I got
from our own transports. Colonel Weston, the Com-
missary-General, as always, rendered us every ser-
vice in his power. This additional and varied food
was of the utmost service, not merely to the sick but
in preventing the well from becoming sick. Through-
out the campaign the Division Inspector- General,
Lieutenant-Colonel Garlington, and Lieutenants
West and Dickman, the acting division quarter-
master and commissary, had done everything in
their power to keep us supplied with food; but
where there were so few mules and wagons even
such able and zealous officers could not do the im-
possible.

The Return Home 197

We had the camp policed thoroughly, and I made
the men build little bunks of poles to sleep on. By
July 23, when we had been ashore a month, we were
able to get fresh meat, and from that time on we
fared well; but the men were already sickening.
The chief trouble was the malarial fever, which was
recurrent. For a few days the man would be very
sick indeed ; then he would partially recover, and be
able to go back to work; but after a little time he
would be again struck down. Every officer other
than myself except one was down with sickness at
one time or another. Even Greenway and Good-
rich succumbed to the fever and were knocked out
for a few days. Very few of the men indeed re-
tained their strength and energy, and though the
percentage actually on the sick list never got over
twenty, there were less than fifty per cent who were
fit for any kind of work. All the clothes were in
rags ; even the officers had neither socks nor under-
wear. The lithe college athletes had lost their
spring; the tall, gaunt hunters and cow-punchers
lounged listlessly in their dog-tents, which were
steaming morasses during the torrential rains, and
then ovens when the sun blazed down; but there
were no complaints.

Through some blunder our march from the in-
trenchments to the camp on the foothills, after the
surrender, was made during the heat of the day;

198 The Rough Riders

and though it was only some five miles or there-
abouts, very nearly half the men of the cavalry
division dropped out. Captain Llewellen had come
back, and led his troop on the march. He carried
a pick and shovel for one of his sick men, and after
we reached camp walked back with a mule to get
another trooper who had fallen out from heat ex-
haustion. The result was that the captain himself
went down and became exceedingly sick. We at
last succeeded in sending him to the States. I never
thought he would live, but he did, and when I met
him again at Montauk Point he had practically en-
tirely recovered. My orderly, Henry Bardshar, was
struck down, and though he ultimately recovered,
he was a mere skeleton, having lost over eighty
pounds.

Yellow fever also broke out in the rear, chiefly
among the Cubans. It never became epidemic, but
it caused a perfect panic among some of our own
doctors, and especially in the minds of one or two
generals and of the home authorities. We found
that whenever we sent a man to the rear he was
decreed to have yellow fever, whereas, if we kept
him at the front, it always turned out that he had
malarial fever, and after a few days he was back at
work again. I doubt if there were ever more than a
dozen genuine cases of yellow fever in the whole
cavalry division ; but the authorities at Washington,

The Return Home 199

misled by the reports they received from one or two
of their military and medical advisers at the front,
became panic-struck, and under the influence of their
fears hesitated to bring the army home, lest it might
import yellow fever into the United States. Their
panic was absolutely groundless, as shown by the
fact that when brought home not a single case of
yellow fever developed upon American soil. Our
real foe was not the yellow fever at all, but malarial
fever, which was not infectious, but which was
certain, if the troops were left throughout the sum-
mer in Cuba, to destroy them, either killing them
outright, or weakening them so that they would
have fallen victims to any disease that attacked
them.

However, for a time our prospects were gloomy,
as the Washington authorities seemed determined
that we should stay in Cuba. They unfortunately
knew nothing of the country nor of the circum-
stances of the army, and the plans that were from
time to time formulated in the Department (and
even by an occasional general or surgeon at the
front) for the management of the army would have
been comic if they had not possessed such tragic
possibilities. Thus, at one period it was proposed
that we should shift camp every two or three days.
Now, our transportation, as I have pointed out be-
fore, was utterly inadequate. In theory, under the

200 The Rough Riders

regulations of the War Department, each regiment
should have had at least twenty-five wagons. As a
matter of fact our regiment often had none, some-
times one, rarely two, and never three; yet it was
better off than any other in the cavalry division.
In consequence it was impossible to carry much of
anything save what the men had on their backs, and
half of the men were too weak to walk three miles
with their packs. Whenever we shifted camp the
exertion among the half-sick caused our sick-roll
to double next morning, and it took at least three
days, even when the shift was for but a short dis-
tance, before we were able to bring up the officers'
luggage, the hospital spare food, the ammunition,
etc. Meanwhile the officers slept wherever they
could, and those men who had not been able to
carry their own bedding, slept as the officers did.
In the weak condition of the men the labor of pitch-
ing camp was severe and told heavily upon them.
In short, the scheme of continually shifting camp
was impossible of fulfilment. It would merely have
resulted in the early destruction of the army.

Again, it was proposed that we should go up the
mountains and make our camps there. The palm
and the bamboo grew to the summits of the moun-
tains, and the soil along their sides was deep and
soft, while the rains were very heavy, much more so
than immediately on the coast — every mile or two in-

The Return Home 201

land bringing with it a great increase in the rainfall.
We could, with much difficulty, have got our regi-
ments up the mountains, but not half the men could
have got up with their belongings; and once there
it would have been an impossibility to feed them.
It was all that could be done, with the limited num-
ber of wagons and mule-trains on hand, to feed the
men in the existing camps, for the travel and the
rain gradually rendered each road in succession
wholly impassable. To have gone up the moun-
tains would have meant early starvation.

The third plan of the Department was even more
objectionable than either of the others. There was,
some twenty-five miles in the interior, what was
called a high interior plateau, and at one period we
were informed that we were to be marched thither.
As a matter of fact, this so-called high plateau was
the sugar-cane country, where, during the summer,
the rainfall was prodigious. It was a rich, deep
soil, covered with a rank tropic growth, the guinea-
grass being higher than the head of a man on horse-
back. It was a perfect hotbed of malaria, and there
was no dry ground whatever in which to camp. To
have sent the troops there would have been simple
butchery.

Under these circumstances the alternative to leav-
ing the country altogether was to stay where we
were, with the hope that half the men would live

202 The Rough Riders

through to the cool season. We did everything pos-
sible to keep up the spirits of the men, but it was
exceedingly difficult because there was nothing for
them to do. They were weak and languid, and in
the wet heat they had lost energy, so that it was not
possible for them to indulge in sports or pastimes.
There were exceptions; but the average man who
went off to shoot guinea-hens or tried some vigorous
game always felt much the worse for his exertions.
Once or twice I took some of my comrades with me,
and climbed up one or another of the surrounding
mountains, but the result generally was that half
of the party were down with some kind of sickness
next day. It was impossible to take heavy exercise
in the heat of the day; the evening usually saw a
rain-storm which made the country a quagmire ; and
in the early morning the drenching dew and wet,
slimy soil made walking but little pleasure. Chap-
lain Brown held service every Sunday under a low
tree outside my tent; and we always had a con-
gregation of a few score troopers, lying or sitting
round, their strong hard faces turned toward the
preacher. I let a few of the men visit Santiago, but
the long walk in and out was very tiring, and, more-
over, wise restrictions had been put as to either
officers or men coming in.

In any event there was very little to do in the
quaint, dirty old Spanish city, though it was inter-

The Return Home 203

esting to go in once or twice, and wander through
the narrow streets with their curious little shops and
low houses of stained stucco, with elaborately
wrought iron trellises to the windows, and curiously
carved balconies ; or to sit in the central plaza where
the cathedral was, and the clubs, and the Cafe
Venus, and the low, bare, rambling building which
was called the Governor's Palace. In this palace
Wood had now been established as military gov-
ernor, and Luna, and two or three of my other
officers from the Mexican border, who knew Span-
ish, were sent in to do duty under him. A great
many of my men knew Spanish, and some of the
New Mexicans were of Spanish origin, although
they behaved precisely like the other members of the
regiment.

We should probably have spent the summer in
our sick camps, losing half the men and hopelessly
shattering the health of the remainder, if General
Shafter had not summoned a council of officers,
hoping by united action of a more or less public
character to wake up the Washington authorities to
the actual condition of things. As all the* Spanish
forces in the province of Santiago had surrendered,
and as so-called immune regiments were coming to
garrison the conquered territory, there was literally
not one thing of any kind whatsoever for the army
to do, and no purpose to serve by keeping it at San-

204 The Rough Riders

tiago. We did not suppose that peace was at hand,
being- ignorant of the negotiations. We were anxi-
ous to take part in the Porto Rico campaign, and
would have been more than willing to suffer any
amount of sickness, if by so doing we could get into
action. But if we were not to take part in the Porto
Rico campaign, then we knew it was absolutely in-
dispensable to get our commands north immediately,
if they were to be in trim for the great campaign
against Havana, which would surely be the main
event of the winter if peace were not declared in
advance.

Our army included the great majority of the
regulars, and was, therefore, the flower of the
American force. It was on every account impera-
tive to keep it in good trim ; and to keep it in San-
tiago meant its entirely purposeless destruction. As
soon as the surrender was an accomplished fact, the
taking away of the army to the north should have
begun.

Every officer, from the highest to the lowest,
especially among the regulars, realized all of this,
and about the last day of July, General Shafter
called a conference, in the palace, of all the division
and brigade commanders. By this time, owing to
Wood's having been made Governor-General, I was
in command of my brigade, so I went to the con-
ference too, riding in with Generals Sumner and

The Return Home 205

Wheeler, who were the other representatives of the
cavalry division. Besides the line officers all the
chief medical officers were present at the conference.
The telegrams from the Secretary stating the posi-
tion of himself and the Surgeon-General were read,
and then almost every line and medical officer pres-
ent expressed his views in turn. They were almost
all regulars and had been brought up to life-long
habits of obedience without protest. They were
ready to obey still, but they felt, quite rightly, that
it was their duty to protest rather than to see the
flower of the United States forces destroyed as the
culminating act of a campaign in which the blunders
that had been committed had been retrieved only by
the valor and splendid soldierly qualities of the
officers and enlisted men of the infantry and dis-
mounted cavalry. There was not a dissenting voice ;
for there could not be. There was but one side to
the question. To talk of continually shifting camp
or of moving up the mountains or of moving into
the interior was idle, for not one of the plans could
be carried out with our utterly insufficient transpor-
tation, and at that season and in that climate they
would merely have resulted in aggravating the sick-
liness of the soldiers. It was deemed best to make
some record of our opinion, in the shape of a letter
or report, which would show that to keep the army
in Santiago meant its absolute and objectless ruin,

206 The Rough Riders

and that it should at once be recalled. At first there
was naturally some hesitation on the part of the
regular officers to take the initiative, for their entire
future career might be sacrificed. So I wrote a
letter to General Shafter, reading over the rough
draft to the various Generals and adopting their
corrections. Before I had finished making these
corrections it was determined that we should send
a circular letter on behalf of all of us to General
Shafter, and when I returned from presenting him
mine, I found this circular letter already prepared
and we all of us signed it. Both letters were made
public. The result was immediate. Within three
days the army was ordered to be ready to sail for
home.

As soon as it was known that we were to sail for
home the spirits of the men changed for the better.
In my regiment the officers began to plan methods
of drilling the men on horseback, so as to fit them
for use against the Spanish cavalry, if we should go
against Havana in December. We had, all of us,
eyed the captured Spanish cavalry with particular
interest. The men were small, and the horses,
though well trained and well built, were diminutive
ponies, very much smaller than cow ponies. We
were certain that if we ever got a chance to try
shock tactics against them they would go down like
nine-pins, provided only that our men could be

The Return Home 207

trained to charge in any kind of line, and we made
ii[) our minds to devote our time to this. Dis-
mounted work with the rifle we already felt thor-
oughly competent to perform.

My time was still much occupied with looking
after the health of my brigade, but the fact that we
were going home, where I knew that their health
would improve, lightened my mind, and I was able
thoroughly to enjoy the beauty of the country, and
even of the storms, which hitherto I had regarded
purely as enemies.

The surroundings of the city of Santiago are very
grand. The circling mountains rise sheer and high.
The plains are threaded by rapid winding brooks
and are dotted here and there with quaint villages,
curiously picturesque from their combining traces
of an outworn old-world civilization with new and
raw barbarism. The tall, graceful, feathery bam-
boos rise by the water's edge, and elsewhere, even
on the mountain-crests, where the soil is wet and
rank enough; and the splendid royal palms and co-
coanut palms tower high above the matted green
jungle.

Generally the thunder-storms came in the after-
noon, but once I saw one at sunrise, driving down
the high mountain valleys toward us. It was a very
beautiful and almost terrible sight ; for the sun rose
behind the storm, and shone through the gusty

208 The Rough Riders

rifts, lighting the mountain crests here and there,
while the plain below lay shrouded in the lingering
night. The angry, level rays edged the dark clouds
with crimson, and turned the downpour into sheets
of golden rain ; in the valleys the glimmering mists
were tinted every wild hue; and the remotest heav-
ens were lit with flaming glory.

One day General Lawton, General Wood and I,
with Ferguson and poor Tiffany, went down the
bay to visit Morro Castle. The shores were beau-
tiful, especially where there were groves of palms
and of the scarlet-flower tree, and the castle itself,
on a jutting headland, overlooking the sea and
guarding the deep, narrow entrance to the bay,
showed just what it was, the splendid relic of a
vanished power and a vanished age. We wan-
dered all through it, among the castellated battle-
ments, and in the dungeons, where we found hide-
pus rusty implements of torture; and looked at the
guns, some modern and some very old. It had been
little hurt by the bombardment of the ships. After-
ward I had a swim, not trusting much to the shark
stories. We passed by the sunken hulks of the Mer-
rimac and the Reina Mercedes, lying just outside
the main channel. Our own people had tried to
sink the first and the Spaniards had tried to sink the
second, so as to block the entrance. Neither at-
tempt was successful.

The Return Home 209

On August 6th we were ordered to embark, and
next morning we sailed on the transport Miami.
General Wheeler was with us and a squadron of the
Third Cavalry under Major Jackson. The General
put the policing and management of the ship into
my hands, and I had great aid from Captain Mc-
Cormick, who had been acting with me as adjutant-
general of the brigade. I had profited by my ex-
perience coming down, and as Dr. Church knew his
work well, although he was very sick, we kept the
ship in such good sanitary condition that we were
one of the very few organizations allowed to land
at Montauk immediately upon our arrival.

Soon after leaving port the captain of the ship
notified me that his stokers and engineers were in-
subordinate and drunken, due, he thought, to liquor
which my men had given them. I at once started a
search of the ship, explaining to the men that they
could not keep the liquor; that if they surrendered
whatever they had to me I should return it to them
when we went ashore; and that meanwhile I would
allow the sick to drink when they really needed it;
but that if they did not give the liquor to me of their
own accord I would throw it overboard. About
seventy flasks and bottles were handed to me, and I
found and threw overboard about twenty. This at
once put a stop to all drunkenness. The stokers and
engineers were sullen and half mutinous, so I sent a

210 The Rough Riders

detail of my men down to watch them and see that
they did their work under the orders of the chief
engineer; and we reduced them to obedience in
short order. I could easily have drawn from the
regiment sufficient skilled men to fill every position
in the entire ship's crew, from captain to stoker.

We were very much crowded on board the ship,
but rather better off than on the Yucatan, so far as
the men were concerned, which was the important
point. All the officers except General Wheeler slept
in a kind of improvised shed, not unlike a chicken
coop with bunks, on the aftermost part of the upper
deck. The water was bad — some of it very bad.
There was no ice. The canned beef proved practi-
cally uneatable, as we knew would be the case.
There were not enough vegetables. We did not
have enough disinfectants, and there was no provi-
sion whatever for a hospital or for isolating the sick ;
we simply put them on one portion of one deck. If,
as so many of the high authorities had insisted,
there had really been a yellow-fever epidemic, and if
it had broken out on shipboard, the condition would
have been frightful ; but there was no yellow-fever
epidemic. Three of our men had been kept behind
as suspects, all three suffered simply from malarial
fever. One of them, Lutz, a particularly good sol-
dier, died; another, who was simply a malingerer
and had nothing the matter with him whatever, of

The Return Home 211

course recovered; the third was Tiffany, who, I be-
lieve, would have lived had we been allowed to take
him with us, but who was sent home later and died
soon after landing.

I was very anxious to keep the men amused,
and as the quarters were so crowded that it was
out of the question for them to have any physical
exercise, I did not interfere with their playing
games of chance so long as no disorder followed.
On shore this was not allowed ; but in the particu-
lar emergency which we were meeting, the loss
of a month's salary was as nothing compared to
keeping the men thoroughly interested and diverted.

By care and diligence we succeeded in preventing
any serious sickness. One man died, however. He
had been suffering from dysentery ever since we
landed, owing purely to his own fault, for on the
very first night ashore he obtained a lot of fiery
liquor from some of the Cubans, got very drunk, and
had to march next day through the hot sun before he
was entirely sober. He never recovered, and was
useless from that time on. On board ship he died,
and we gave him sea burial. Wrapped in a ham-
mock, he was placed opposite a port, and the Ameri-
can flag thrown over him. The engine was stilled,
and the great ship rocked on the waves unshaken by
the screw, while the war-worn troopers clustered
around with bare heads, to listen to Chaplain Brown

212 The Rough Riders

read the funeral service, and to the band of the
Third Cavalry as it played the funeral dirge. Then
the port was knocked free, the flag withdrawn, and
the shotted hammock plunged heavily over the side,
rushing down through the dark water to lie, till the
Judgment Day, in the ooze that holds the timbers
of so many gallant ships, and the bones of so many
fearless adventurers.

We were favored by good weather during our
nine days' voyage, and much of the time when there
was little to do we simply sat together and talked,
each man contributing from the fund of his own ex-
periences. Voyages around Cape Horn, yacht races
for the America's cup, experiences on foot-ball
teams which are famous in the annals of college
sport; more serious feats of desperate prowess in
Indian fighting and in breaking up gangs of white
outlaws ; adventures in hunting big game, in break-
ing wild horses, in tending great herds of cattle,
and in wandering winter and summer among the
mountains and across the lonely plains — the men
who told the tales could draw upon countless mem-
ories such as these of the things they had done and
the things they had seen others do. Sometimes
General Wheeler joined us and told us about the
great war, compared with which ours was such a
small war — far-reaching in their importance though
its effects were destined to be. When we had be-

The Return Home 213

come convinced that we would escape an epidemic
of sickness the homeward voyage became very
pleasant.

On the eve of leaving Santiago I had received
from Mr. Laffan of the Sun a cable with the single
word " Peace," and we speculated much on this, as
the clumsy transport steamed slowly northward
across the trade wind and then into the Gulf Stream.
At last we sighted the low, sandy bluffs of the Long
Island coast, and late on the afternoon of the I4th
we steamed through the still waters of the Sound
and cast anchor off Montauk. A gunboat of the
Mosquito fleet came out to greet us and to inform us
that peace negotiations had begun.

Next morning we were marched on shore. Many
of the men were very sick indeed. Of the three or
four who had been closest to me among the enlisted
men, Color-Sergeant Wright was the only one in
good health. Henry Bardshar was a wreck, literal-
ly at death's door. I was myself in first-class health,
all the better for having lost twenty pounds. Faith-
ful Marshall, my colored body-servant, was so sick
as to be nearly helpless.

Bob Wrenn nearly died. He had joined us very
late and we could not get him a Krag carbine ; so I
had given him my Winchester, which carried the
government cartridge ; and when he was mustered
out he carried it home in triumph, to the envy of his

214 The Rough Riders

fellows, who themselves had to surrender their be-
loved rifles.

For the first few days there was great confusion
and some want even after we got to Montauk. The
men in hospitals suffered from lack of almost every-
thing, even cots. But after these few days we were
very well cared for and had abundance of all we
needed, except that on several occasions there was
a shortage of food for the horses, which I should
have regarded as even more serious than a shortage
for the men, had it not been that we were about to
be disbanded. The men lived high, with milk, eggs,
oranges, and any amount of tobacco, the lack of
which during portions of the Cuban campaign had
been felt as seriously as any lack of food. One of
the distressing features of the malarial fever which
had been ravaging the troops was that it was recur-
rent and persistent. Some of my men died after
reaching home, and many were very sick. We owed
much to the kindness not only of the New York
hospitals and the Red Cross and kindred societies,
but of individuals, notably Mr. Bayard Cutting and
Mrs. Armitage, who took many of our men to their
beautiful Long Island homes.

On the whole, however, the month we spent at
Montauk before we disbanded was very pleasant.
It was good to meet the rest of the regiment. They
all felt dreadfully at not having been in Cuba. It

The Return Home 215

was a sore trial to men who had given up much to
go to the war, and who rebelled at nothing in the
way of hardship or suffering, but who did bitterly
feel the fact that their sacrifices seemed to have been
useless. Of course those who stayed had done their
duty precisely as did those who went, for the ques-
tion of glory was not to be considered in comparison
to the faithful performance of whatever was or-
dered ; and no distinction of any kind was allowed in
the regiment between those whose good fortune it
had been to go and those whose harder fate it had
been to remain. Nevertheless the latter could not be
entirely comforted.

The regiment had three mascots; the two most
characteristic — a young mountain lion brought by
the Arizona troops, and a war eagle brought by
the New Mexicans — we had been forced to leave be-
hind in Tampa. The third, a rather disreputable but
exceedingly knowing little dog, named Cuba, had
accompanied us through all the vicissitudes of the
campaign. The mountain lion, Josephine, possessed
an infernal temper; whereas both Cuba and the
eagle, which have been named in my honor, were
extremely good-humored. Josephine was kept tied
up. She sometimes escaped. One cool night in early
September she wandered off and, entering the tent
of a Third Cavalry man, got into bed with him;
whereupon he fled into the darkness with yells,

216 The Rough Riders

much more unnerved than he would have been by
the arrival of any number of Spaniards. The eagle
was let loose and not only walked at will up and
down the company streets, but also at times flew
wherever he wished. He was a young bird, having
been taken out of his nest when a fledgling. Jose-
phine hated him and was always trying to make a
meal of him, especially when we endeavored to take
their photographs together. The eagle, though
good-natured, was an entirely competent individual
and ready at any moment to beat Josephine off.
Cuba was also oppressed at times by Josephine, and
was of course no match for her, but was frequently
able to overawe by simple decision of character.

In addition to the animal mascots, we had two
or three small boys who had also been adopted by
the regiment. One, from Tennessee, was named
Dabney Royster. When we embarked at Tampa he
smuggled himself on board the transport with a 22-
calibre rifle and three boxes of cartridges, and wept
bitterly when sent ashore. The squadron which re-
mained behind adopted him, got him a little Rough
Rider's uniform, and made him practically one of
the regiment.

The men who had remained at Tampa, like our-
selves, had suffered much from fever, and the horses
were in bad shape. So many of the men were sick
that none of the regiments began to drill for some

The Return Home 217

time after reaching Montauk. There was a great
deal of paper-work to be done; but as I still had
charge of the brigade only a little of it fell on my
shoulders. Of this I was sincerely glad, for I
knew as little of the paper-work as my men had
originally known of drill. We had all of us learned
how to fight and march ; but the exact limits of our
rights and duties in other respects were not very
clearly defined in our minds; and as for myself, as
I had not had the time to learn exactly what they
were, I had assumed a large authority in giving re-
wards and punishments. In particular I had looked
on the court-martials much as Peter Bell looked on
primroses — they were courts-martial and nothing
more, whether resting op the authority of a lieu-
tenant-colonel or of a major-general. The muster-
ing-out officer, a thorough soldier, found to his
horror that I had used the widest discretion both
in imposing heavy sentences which I had no power
to impose on men who shirked their duties, and,
where men atoned for misconduct by marked gal-
lantry, in blandly remitting sentences approved by
my chief of division. However, I had done sub-
stantial, even though somewhat rude and irregular,
justice — and no harm could result, as we were just
about to be mustered out.

My chief duties were to see that the camps of the
three regiments were thoroughly policed and kept

VOL. XL— J

2i 8 The Rough Riders

in first-class sanitary condition. This took up some
time, of course, and there were other matters in
connection with the mustering out which had to be
attended to; but I could always get two or three
hours a day free from work. Then I would summon
a number of the officers, Kane, Greenway, Good-
rich, Church, Ferguson, Mcllhenny, Frantz, Ballard
and others, and we would gallop down to the beach
and bathe in the surf, or else go for long rides over
the beautiful rolling plains, thickly studded with
pools which were white with water-lilies. Some-
times I went off alone with my orderly, young
Gordon Johnston, one of the best men in the regi-
ment ; he was a nephew of the Governor of Ala-
bama, and when at Princeton had played on the
eleven. We had plenty of horses, and these rides
were most enjoyable. Galloping over the open, roll-
ing country, through the cool fall evenings, made us
feel as if we were out on the great Western plains
and might at any moment start deer from the brush,
or see antelope stand and gaze, far away, or rouse a
band of mighty elk and hear their horns clatter as
they fled.

An old friend, Baron von Sternburg, of the Ger-
man Embassy, spent a week in camp with me. He
had served, when only seventeen, in the Franco-
Prussian War as a hussar, and was a noted sharp-
shooter— being "the little baron" who is the hero of

The Return Home 219

Archibald Forbes's true story of "The Pig-dog."
He and I had for years talked over the possibilities
of just such a regiment as the one I was command-
ing, and he was greatly interested in it. Indeed I
had vainly sought permission from the German am-
bassador to take him with the regiment to Santiago.
One Sunday before the regiment disbanded T
supplemented Chaplain Brown's address to the men
by a short sermon of a rather hortatory character.
I told them how proud I was of them, but warned
them not to think that they could now go back and
rest on their laurels, bidding them remember that
though for ten days or so the world would be will-
ing to treat them as heroes, yet after that time they
would find they had to get down to hard work just
like everyone else, unless they were willing to be
regarded as worthless do-nothings. They took the
sermon in good part, and I hope that some of them
profited by it. At any rate, they repaid me by a
very much more tangible expression of affection.
One afternoon, to my genuine surprise, I was asked
out of my tent by Lieutenant-Colonel Brodie (the
gallant old boy had rejoined us), and found the
whole regiment formed in hollow square, with the
officers and color-sergeant in the middle. When
I went in, one of the troopers came forward and on
behalf of the regiment presented me with Reming-
ton's fine bronze, "The Bronco-buster." There

220 The Rough Riders

could have been no more appropriate gift from such
a regiment, and I was not only pleased with it, but
very deeply touched with the feeling which made
them join in giving it. Afterward they all filed past
and I shook the hand of each to say good-by.

Most of them looked upon the bronze with the
critical eyes of professionals. I doubt if there was
any regiment in the world which contained so large
a number of men able to ride the wildest and most
dangerous horses. One day while at Montauk Point
some of the troopers of the Third Cavalry were
getting ready for mounted drill when one of their
horses escaped, having thrown his rider. This at-
tracted the attention of some of our men and they
strolled around to see the trooper remount. He
was instantly thrown again, the horse, a huge, vic-
ious sorrel, being one of the worst buckers I ever
saw ; and none of his comrades were willing to ride
the animal. Our men, of course, jeered and mocked
at them, and in response were dared to ride the
horse themselves. The challenge was instantly ac-
cepted, the only question being as to which of a
dozen noted bronco-busters who were in the ranks
should undertake the task. Tliey finally settled on
a man named Darnell. It was agreed that the
experiment should take place next day when the
horse would be fresh, and accordingly next day the
majority of both regiments turned out on a big open

The Return Home 221

flat in front of my tent — brigade head-quarters. The
result was that after as fine a bit of rough riding as
one would care to see, in which one scarcely knew
whether most to wonder at the extraordinary vi-
ciousness and agile strength of the horse or at the
horsemanship and courage of the rider, Darnell
came off victorious, his seat never having been
shaken. After this almost every day we had ex-
hibitions of bronco-busting, in which all the crack
riders of the regiment vied with one another, riding
not only all of our own bad horses but any horse
which was deemed bad in any of the other regi-
ments. Darnell, McGinty, Wood, Smoky Moore,
and a score of others took part in these exhibitions,
which included not merely feats in mastering vicious
horses, but also feats of broken horses which the
riders had trained to lie down at command, and
upon which they could mount while at full speed.
Toward the end of the time we also had mounted
drill on two or three occasions ; and when the Presi-
dent visited the camp we turned out mounted to re-
ceive him as did the rest of the cavalry. The last
night before we were mustered out was spent in
noisy, but entirely harmless hilarity, which I ig-
nored. Every form of celebration took place in the
ranks. A former Populist candidate for Attorney-
General in Colorado delivered a fervent oration in
favor of free silver; a number of the college boys

222 The Rough Riders

sang; but most of the men gave vent to their feel-
ings by improvised dances. In these the Indians
took the lead, pure bloods and half-breeds alike, the
cowboys and miners cheerfully joining in and form-
ing part of the howling, grunting rings that went
bounding around the great fires they had kindled.

Next morning Sergeant Wright took down the col-
ors, and Sergeant Guitilias the standard, for the last
time ; the horses, the rifles, and the rest of the regi-
mental property had been turned in ; officers and men
shook hands and said good-by to one another, and
then they scattered to their homes in the North and
the South, the few going back to the great cities of
the East, the many turning again toward the plains,
the mountains, and the deserts of the West and the
strange Southwest. This was on September I5th,
the day which marked the close of the four months'
life of a regiment of as gallant fighters as ever wore
the United States uniform.

The regiment was a wholly exceptional volunteer
organization, and its career cannot be taken as in
any way a justification for the belief that the aver-
age volunteer regiment approaches the average regu-
lar regiment in point of efficiency until it has had
many months of active service. In the first place,
though the regular regiments may differ markedly
among themselves, yet the range of variation among

The Return Home 223

them is nothing like so wide as that among volunteer
regiments, where at first there is no common stan-
dard at all; the very best being, perhaps, up to the
level of the regulars (as has recently been shown at
Manila), while the very worst ^,re no better than
mobs, and the great bulk come m between.* The
average regular regiment is superior to the average
volunteer regiment in the physique of the enlisted
men, who have been very carefully selected, who
have been trained to life in the open, and who know
how to cook and take care of themselves generally.

Now, in all these respects, and in others like them,
the Rough Riders were the equals of the regulars.
They were hardy, self-reliant, accustomed to shift
for themselves in the open under very adverse cir-
cumstances. The two all-important qualifications
for a cavalryman are riding and shooting — the mod-
ern cavalryman being so often used dismounted, as
an infantryman. The average recruit requires a
couple of years before he becomes proficient in horse-
manship and marksmanship; but my men were al-
ready good shots and first-class riders when they
came into the regiment. The difference as regards
officers and non-commissioned officers, between reg-
ulars and volunteers, is usually very great; but in
my regiment (keeping in view the material we had

* For sound common-sense about the volunteers see Par-
ker's excellent little book, "The Gatlings at Santiago."

224 The Rough Riders

to handle), it was easy to develop non-commissioned
officers out of men who had been round-up foremen,
ranch foremen, mining bosses, and the like. These
men were intelligent and resolute; they knew they
had a great deal tD learn, and they set to work to
learn it ; while they . .ere already accustomed to man-
aging considerable interests, to obeying orders, and
to taking care of others as well as themselves.

As for the officers, the great point in our favor
was the anxiety they showed to learn from those
among their number who, like Capron, had already
served in the regular army ; and the fact that we had
chosen a regular army man as Colonel. If a volun-
teer organization consists of good material, and is
eager to learn, it can readily do so if it has one or
two first-class regular officers to teach it. More-
over, most of our captains and lieutenants were men
who had seen much of wild life, who were accus-
tomed to handling and commanding other men, and
who had usually already been under fire as sheriffs,
marshals, and the like. As for the second in com-
mand, myself, I had served three years as captain
in the National Guard ; I had been deputy sheriff in
the cow country, where the position was not a sine-
cure; I was accustomed to big game hunting and to
work on a cow ranch, so that I was thoroughly fa-
miliar with the use both of horse and rifle, and knew
how to handle cowboys, hunters, and miners ; finally,

The Return Home 225

I had studied much in the literature of war, and espe-
cially the literature of the great modern wars, like
our own Civil War, the Franco-German War, the
Turco-Russian War; and I was especially familiar
with the deeds, the successes and failures alike, of
the frontier horse riflemen who had fought at King's
Mountain and the Thames, and on the Mexican bor-
der. Finally, and most important of all, officers and
men alike were eager for fighting, and resolute to
do well and behave properly, to encounter hardship
and privation, and the irksome monotony of camp
routine, without grumbling or complaining; they
had counted the cost before they went in, and were
delighted to pay the penalties inevitably attendant
upon the career of a fighting regiment; and from
the moment when the regiment began to gather, the
higher officers kept instilling into those under them
the spirit of eagerness for action and of stern deter-
mination to grasp at death rather than forfeit honor.
The self-reliant spirit of the men was well shown
after they left the regiment. Of course, there were
a few weaklings among them; and there were oth-
ers, entirely brave and normally self-sufficient, who,
from wounds or fevers, were so reduced that they
had to apply for aid — or at least, who deserved aid,
even though they often could only be persuaded
with the greatest difficulty to accept it. The widows
and orphans had to be taken care of. There were

226 The Rough Riders

a few light-hearted individuals, who were entirely
ready to fight in time of war, but in time of peace
felt that somebody ought to take care of them ; and
there were others who, never having seen any aggre-
gation of buildings larger than an ordinary cow-
town, fell a victim to the fascinations of New York.
But, as a whole, they scattered out to their homes on
the disbandment of the regiment ; gaunter than when
they had enlisted, sometimes weakened by fever or
wounds, but just as full as ever of sullen, sturdy ca-
pacity for self-help; scorning to ask for aid, save
what was entirely legitimate in the way of one com-
rade giving help to another. A number of the ex-
amining surgeons, at the muster-out, spoke to me
with admiration of the contrast offered by our regi-
ment to so many others, in the fact that our men al-
ways belittled their own bodily injuries and suffer-
ings; so that whereas the surgeons ordinarily had
to be on the lookout lest a man who was not really
disabled should claim to be so, in our case they had
to adopt exactly the opposite attitude and guard the
future interests of the men, by insisting upon putting
upon their certificates of discharge whatever disease
they had contracted or wound they had received in line
of duty. Major J. H. Calef, who had more than any
other one man to do with seeing to the proper dis-
charge papers of our men, and who took a most gen-
erous interest in them, wrote me as follows : "I also

The Return Home 227

wish to bring to your notice the fortitude displayed
by the men of your regiment, who have come before
me to be mustered out of service, in making their
personal declarations as to their physical conditions.
Men who bore on their faces and in their forms the
traces of long days of illness, indicating wrecked
constitutions, declared that nothing was the matter
with them, at the same time disclaiming any inten-
tion of applying for a pension. It was exceptionally
heroic."

When we were mustered out, many of the men
had lost their jobs, and were too weak to go to
work at once, while there were helpless dependants
of the dead to care for. Certain of my friends,
August Belmont, Stanley and Richard Mortimer,
Major Austin Wadsworth — himself fresh from the
Manila campaign — Belmont Tiffany, and others,
gave me sums of money to be used for helping these
men. In some instances, by the exercise of a good
deal of tact and by treating the gift as a memorial
of poor young Lieutenant Tiffany, we got the men
to accept something; and, of course, there were a
number who, quite rightly, made no difficulty about
accepting. But most of the men would accept no
help whatever. In the first chapter, I spoke of a
lady, a teacher in an academy in the Indian Terri-
tory, three or four of whose pupils had come into
my regiment, and who had sent with them a letter

228 The Rough Riders

of introduction to me. When the regiment dis-
banded, I wrote to her to ask if she could not use a
little money among the Rough Riders, white, In-
dian, and half-breed, that she might personally know.
I did not hear from her for some time, and then she
wrote as follows :

"MUSCOGEE, IND. TER.,

December 19, 1898.

"My DEAR COLONEL ROOSEVELT: I did not at
once reply to your letter of September 23d, because
I waited for a time to see if there should be need
among any of our Rough Riders of the money you
so kindly offered. Some of the boys are poor, and
in one or two cases they seemed to me really needy,
but they all said no. More than once I saw the tears
come to their eyes, at thought of your care for them,
as I told them of your letter. Did you hear any
echoes of our Indian war-whoops over your election ?
They were pretty loud. I was particularly exultant,
because my father was a New Yorker and I was
educated in New York, even if I was born here. So
far as I can learn, the boys are taking up the dropped
threads of their lives, as though they had never been
away. Our two Rough Rider students, Meagher
and Gilmore, are doing well in their college work.

"I am sorry to tell you of the death of one of your
most devoted troopers, Bert Holderman, who was
here serving on the Grand Jury. He was stricken
with meningitis in the jury-room, and died after
three days of delirium. His father, who was twice

The Return Home 229

wounded, four times taken prisoner, and fought in
thirty-two battles of the Civil War, now old and
feeble, survives him, and it was indeed pathetic to
see his grief. Bert's mother, who is a Cherokee,
was raised in my grandfather's family. The words
of commendation which you wrote upon Bert's dis-
charge are the greatest comfort to his friends. They
wanted you to know of his death, because he loved
you so.

"I am planning to entertain all the Rough Riders
in this vicinity some evening during my holiday va-
cation. I mean to have no other guests, but only
give them an opportunity for reminiscences. I re-
gret that Bert's death makes one less. I had hoped
to have them sooner, but our struggling young col-
lege salaries are necessarily small and duties ardu-
ous. I make a home for my widowed mother and
an adopted Indian daughter, who is in school ; and as
I do the cooking for a family of five, I have found
it impossible to do many things I would like to.

"Pardon me for burdening you with these details,
but I suppose I am like your boys, who say, The
Colonel was always as ready to listen to a private
as to a major-general.'

"Wishing you and yours the very best gifts the
season can bring, I am,

"Very truly yours,

"ALICE M. ROBERTSON/'

Is it any wonder that I loved my regiment?

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A
MUSTER-OUT ROLL

[Owing to the circumstances of the regiment's
service, the paperwork was very difficult to perform.
This muster-out roll is very defective in certain
points, notably in the enumeration of the wounded
who had been able to return to duty. Some of the
dead are also undoubtedly passed over. Thus I have
put in Race Smith, Sanders, and Tiffany as dead,
correcting the rolls ; but there are doubtless a num-
ber of similar corrections which should be made but
have not been, as the regiment is now scattered far
and wide. I have also corrected the record for the
wounded men in one or two places where I happen
to remember it; but there are a number of the
wounded, especially the slightly wounded, who are
not down at all.]

(233)

234 The Rough Riders

FIELD, STAFF, AND BAND

Theodore Roosevelt. .Colonel New York, N. Y.

Alexander O. Brodie . Lieut-Colonel. .. Prescott, Ariz.

Henry B. Hersey. . . . Major Santa Fe, N. M.

George M. Dunn. . . . Major .• ' • • Denver, Col.

Micah J. Jenkins Major. Youngs Is., S. C.

Henry A. Brown Chaplain Prescott, Ariz.

Maxwell Keyes ist Lt. & Adjt. . .San Antonio, Tex.

Sherrard Coleman. . . ist Lt. & Q. M. Santa Fe, N. M.

Ernest Seeker Sergt.-Major. . . .Los Angeles, Cal.

Matthew Douthett. . . Q.-M. Sergeant. Denver, Col.

Clay Platt Cf. Trumpeter. . San Antonio, Tex.

Joseph F. Kansky. . . Sad. Sergeant. . . Tacoma, Wash.
Leonard Wood Colonel Cape Cod, Mass.

Promoted, July 9, 1898, to Brig.-Gen. of U. S. Vols.

Thomas W. Hall ist Lieut. & Adjt.

Tendered his resignation as ist Lieut, and Adjt., which took effect
Aug. i, 1898, in compliance with S. O. No. 175, O. G. O., dated
July 29, 1898.

Jacob Schwaizer ist Lt. & Q.-M. .El Reno, O. T.

Resigned his commission as ist Lieut., Aug. 4, 1898. Resignation
took effect Sept. 7, 1898.

Joseph A. Carr Sergt.-Major. . . .Washington, D. C.

Discharged at San Antonio, Texas, by way of favor to enable him
to accept a commission as ist Lieut, in the Regiment, May 19, 1898.

Christian Madsen R. Q.-M. Sergt. .El Reno, O. T.

Discharged on Surgeon's certificate of disability at Camp Wikoff, L. I.,
Aug. 26, 1898.

Alfred E. Lewis R. Q.-M. Sergt. ,

Deserted from Camp at San Antonio, Tex., on or about May 5, 1898.

Ernest Haskell Cadet West Point.

Acted with regiment as second lieutenant. Dangerously wounded by
Mauser bullet, July ist.

THE HOSPITAL CORPS

Henry La Motte Major Williamsb'g, Mass.

James A. Massie. . . .ist Lieutenant. . .Santa Fe, N. M.
*James R. Church. . .ist Lieutenant. . .Washington, D. C.

James B. Brady Steward Santa Fe, N. M.

Herbert J. Rankin. . .Steward Las Vegas, N. M.

Charles A. Wilson. . .Steward Col. Springs, Col.

John R. Rawdin Private

* Acted as Regimental Surgeon during most of the campaign.

Muster-Out Roll 235

TROOP A
CAPTAIN FRANK FRANTZ

Frank Frantz Captain Prescott, Ariz.

John C. Green way. . . ist Lieutenant. . .Hot Springs, Ark.

Joshua D. Carter 2d Lieutenant. . . Prescott, Ariz.

Wm. W. Greenwood, ist Sergeant Prescott, Ariz.

Shot in left foot and leg in battle, July i, 1898. Engaged in battles
of Las Guasimas, June 24th; San Juan, July ist.

James T. Greenley. . . Sergeant Prescott, Ariz.

Wounded in leg, July i, 1898. Engaged in battles of Las Guasimas,
June 24th; San Juan, July ist; and siege of Santiago following.

KingC. Henley Q--M. Sergeant. Winslow, Ariz.

Henry W. Nash Sergeant Young, Ariz.

Samuel H. Rhodes . . . Sergeant Tonto Basin, Ariz.

Robert Brown Sergeant Prescott, Ariz.

Charles E. McGarr. . .Sergeant Prescott, Ariz.

Carl Holtzschue Sergeant. Prescott, Ariz.

George L. Bugbee Corporal Lordsburg, N. M.

Harry G. White Corporal Richenbar, Ariz.

Absent from July 2, 1898, in Governor's Island, N. Y., Hospital, on
account of wound in leg, received on July 2, 1898. Engaged in
battles of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898; San Juan, July i, 1898.

Cade C. Jackson Corporal Flagstaff, Ariz.

Harry B. Fox Corporal Jerome, Ariz.

William Cranfurd. . . Corporal San Antonio, Tex.

George A. McCarter. Corporal Safford, Ariz.

Ruf us H. Marine Corporal Flagstaff, Ariz.

John D. Honeyman . . .Corporal San Antonio, Tex.

Emilio Cassi Trumpeter Jerome, Ariz.

Wounded in hand on July 2, 1898.

Frank Harner Trumpeter Preston, Ariz.

Thomas Hamilton. . . .Blacksmith Jerome, Ariz.

Wallace B. Willard. . Farrier Cottonwood, Ariz.

Forest Whitney Saddler Richenbar, Ariz.

John H. Waller Wagoner Prescott, Ariz.

Wounded in left arm in battle of July i, 1898. Engaged in Las
Guasimas, June 24, 1898; San Juan, July i, 1898; and siege of
Santiago following.

236

The Rough Riders

TROOPERS
Adams, Ralph R., Yonkers, Griffen, Walter W., Globe,

N. Y.

Ariz.

Allen, George L., Prescott, Glover, William H., Lib-

Ariz.

erty, Tex.

Azbill, John, St. John's, Hawes, George P., Jr., Rich-

Ariz.

mond, Va.

Azbill, William, St. John's, Haymon, Edward G. B.,

Ariz.

Chicago, 111.

Arnold, Henry N., New Hoffman, Fred., Pueblo,

York City.

Col.

Barnard, John C., New Hodgdon, Charles E., Pres-

York City. cott, Ariz.

Bartoo, Nelson E., Win- Hogan, Daniel L., Flag-
slow, Ariz. staff, Ariz.

Belknap, Prescott H., B*os- Howard, John L., St. Louis,

ton, Brookline, Mass. Mo.

Brauer, Lee W., Richmond, Hubbell, John D., Boston,

Va. Mass.

Bugbee, Fred. W., Lords- Huffman, Lawrence E., Las

burg, N. M. Cruces, Mex.

Wounded in head in battle of Jackson, Charles B., PreS-

San Juan, July i, 1898. Slight. CQ^ Ariz.

Mauser rifle. Wounded in neck at battle of

Bull, Charles C., San Fran- San Juan, July i, 1898. Na-

cisCO, Cal. tuflre of injury slight. Mauser

Bulzing, William, Santa Fe, Johnson, John W., King-

N. M. man, Ariz.

Burke, Edward F., Orange, Lefors, Jefferson D., Pres-

N. J. cott, Ariz.

Bardshar, Henry P., Pres- Lewis, William F., Con-

cott, Ariz. gress, Ariz.

Church, Leroy B., Ithaca, Larned, William A., Sum-
Mich, mit, N. J.

Curtis, Harry A., Boston, Le Roy, Arthur M., Pres-

Mass. cott, Ariz.

Freeman, Thomas L., Thur- May, James A., Safford,

ber, Tex. Ariz.

Muster-Out Roll

23?

McCarty, Frank, Flagstaff,
Ariz.

Mills, Charles E., Cedar
Rapids, la.

Murchie, Guy, Calais, Me.

Osborne, George, Bungen-
dera, N. S. W., Aus-
tralia.

O'Brien, Edward, Jerome,
Ariz.

Wounded in head, by shrapnel,
morning of July 2, 1898.

Page, William, Richenbar,

Ariz.
Perry, Charles B., Perry's

Landing, Tex.

Shot in head, July 2, 1898. Se-
vere.

Paxton, Frank, Safford,
Ariz.

Pearsall, Paul S., New
York, N. Y.

Pettit, Louis P., Flagstaff,
Ariz.

Philip, Hoffman, Washing-
ton, D. C.

Pierce, Harry B., Central
City, N. M.

Raudebaugh, James D.,
Flagstaff, Ariz.

Rapp, Adolph, San An-
tonio, Tex.

Sells, Henry, Flagstaff,
Ariz.

Sellers, Henry J., Williams,
Ariz.

Sewall, Henry F., New
York, N. Y.

Shaw, James A., Prescott,
Ariz.

Shanks, Lee P., Paducah,
Ky.

Stark, Wallace J., Safford,
Ariz.

Sullivan, Patrick J., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

Thomas, Rufus K., Boston,
Mass.

Thomson, Joseph F., Jr.,
Washington, D. C.

Tuttle, Arthur L., Safford,
Ariz.

Van Siclen, Frank, Safford,
Ariz.

Wager, Oscar G., Jerome,
Ariz.

Wallace, Walter D., Flag-
staff, Ariz.

Wallace, William F., Flag-
staff, Ariz.

Wounded in neck in battle of
San Juan, July i, 1898.

Wayland, Thomas J., Wil-
liams, Ariz.

Webb, Adelbert B., Safford,
Ariz.

Weil, Henry J., Kingman,
Ariz.

Wilson, Jerome, Chloride,
Ariz.

Wrenn, Robert D., Chicago,
111.

238 The Rough Riders

DISCHARGED
Garret, Samuel H Prescott, Ariz.

Honorably discharged the service by order of A. G. O. Special Order
No. 14, Aug. 24, 1898.

Greenwald, Sam Prescott, Ariz.

Discharged by authority of Secretary of War, at Camp Wikoff, Aug.
31. 1898.

McCormick, Willis Salt Lake City,

Utah

Honorably discharged the service, Aug. 23, 1898. By order Secre-
tary of War.

KILLED IN ACTION
O'Neill, William O. .Captain Prescott, Ariz.

Engaged and killed in battle of San Juan, July i, 1898, by gunshot
wound in the head.

Doherty, George H . . Corporal Jerome, Ariz.

Engaged and killed in battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898, by bul-
let wound in the head.

Boyle, James Private. . Prescott, Ariz.

Engaged in and mortally wounded at battle of San Juan, July i,
1898; shot through neck and body; died July 2, 1898.

Champlin, Fred E . . . Private Flagstaff, Ariz.

Engaged in battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898, and battle of San
Juan, July i, 1898, where he was mortally wounded. Died, July
2, 1898; shot in leg and foot by shrapnel and arm torn off by shell.
Left thigh and hand.

Liggett, Edward Private Jerome, Ariz.

Engaged and killed in battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898; shot
through the body.

Reynolds, Lewis Private Kingman, Ariz.

Engaged in battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898, and San Juan,
July i, 1898. Killed on July i, 1898; shot through the stomach.

DIED OF DISEASE
Hollister, Stanley. . . Private Santa Barbara, Cal.

Wounded in left thigh in battle, July 2, 1898; severe. Died of typhoid
fever in general U. S. Hospital, Fortress Monroe, Va., Aug. 17,
1898.

Wallace, Alexander H. Private Pasadena, Cal.

Died of typhoid fever at St. Peter's Hospital, Brooklyn, Aug. 31,
1898.

Walsh, George Private San Francisco, Cal.

Died at sea, aboard S. S. Miami, Aug. n, 1898, of chronic dysentery;
buried at sea, Aug. 12, 1898.

Muster-Out Roll 239

SUICIDE
De Vol, Harry P San Antonio, Tex.

While in Guard-House, Camp Wikoff, died of self-inflicted wound in
the head.

DESERTER
Jackson, John W. . . .Private Jerome, Ariz.

Deserted the service at Tampa, Fla., July 7, 1898.

TROOP B

CAPTAIN JAMES H. MCCLINTOCK
James H. McClintock . Captain Phoenix, Ariz.

Wounded at battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898. Wounded in
left ankle.

George B. Wilcox. . .ist Lieutenant. . .Prescott, Ariz.
Thomas H. Rymning.2d Lieutenant. . . Tucson, Ariz.
William A. Davidson ist Sergeant. . . .vPhoenix, Ariz.
Stephen A. Pate Q--M. Sergeant. .Tucson, Ariz.

Wounded in right lung before Santiago de Cuba, July i, 1898.

Elmer Hawley. Sergeant Phcenix, Ariz.

John E. Campbell. . . Sergeant Phcenix, Ariz.

Charles H. Utling. . . Sergeant Phcenix, Ariz.

Edward G. Norton. . Sergeant Phcenix, Ariz.

David L. Hughes. . . .Sergeant Tucson, Ariz.

Wounded in head, July i, 1898, at battle before Santiago de Cuba.

Jerry F. Lee Sergeant -Globe, Ariz.

Shot in head before Santiago de Cuba, July i, 1898.

Eugene W. Waterbury Corporal Tucson, Ariz.

Walter T. Gregory . . Corporal Phcenix, Ariz.

Thos. W.PembertonJrCorporal Phcenix, Ariz.

George J. McCabe. . . Corporal Bisbee, Ariz.

Calvin McCarthy Corporal Phcenix, Ariz.

Charles E. Heitman. .Corporal Phcenix, Ariz.

Frank Ward Corporal Globe, Ariz.

Dudly S. Dean Corporal Boston, Mass.

John Foster Bugler Bisbee, Ariz.

Jesse Walters Bugler Phcenix, Ariz.

Frank W. Harmson . Farrier Tucson, Ariz.

Fred A. Pomeroy Blacksmith Kingman, Ariz.

Joseph E. McGinty. . Wagoner Tucson, Ariz.

Richard E. Goodwin . Saddler Phcenix, Ariz.

240

The Rough Riders

TROOPERS

Boggs, Looney L., Phoenix, Gurney, Frank W., Tampa,
Ariz. Fla.

Buckholdt, Chas., Kickapoo Hall, John M., Phoenix,
Springs, Tex.

Beebe, Walter S., Prescott,
Ariz.

Brady, Fred L., New York,
N. Y.

Butler, James A., Albuquer-
que, N. M.

Barrowe, Beekman K.,
Tampa, Fla.

Colwell, Grant, Phoenix,
Ariz.

Collier, Edward G., Globe,
Ariz.

Chester, Will M., Oakwell,
Tex.

Christian, Benjamin, Nor-
folk, Va.

Chamberlin, Lowell A.,
Washington, D. C.

Day, Robert, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Drachman, Sol. B., Tucson,
Ariz.

Draper, Durward D., Phoe-
nix, Ariz.

Eakin, Alva L., Globe,
Ariz.

Ariz.

Wounded in shoulder by shrap-
nel, July i, 1898, before San-
tiago de Cuba. Piece of shell
not removed.

Hammer, John S., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Slightly wounded by shell, July
i, 1898, before Santiago de
Cuba. Wounded in leg.

Hildreth, Fenn S., Tucson,
Ariz.

Hartzell, Ira C., Phoenix,
Ariz.

Haydon, Roy F., Prescott,
Ariz.

Henderson, Sibird, Globe,
Ariz.

Hildebrand, Louis T., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

Heywood, John P., Tampa,
Fla.

James, William T., Jerome,
Ariz.

Johnson, Anton E., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

King, Geo. C., Prescott,
Ariz.

Keir, Alex. S., Bisbee, Ariz.

Eads, Wade Q., San An- Laird, Thomas J., Prescott,

tonio, Tex. Ariz.

Fitzgerald, Frank T., Tuc- Merritt, Fred M., Tucson,

son, Ariz. Ariz.

Goss, Conrad F., Tampa, Merritt, William W., Red

Fla. Oak, la.

Muster-Out Roll

241

McCann, Walter J., Phoe-
nix, Ariz.

Iron stanchion fell upon right
side of head, right arm, and
shoulder, while asleep in quar-
ters on transport Yucatan, en
route for Cuba, June ai, 1898.

Middleton, Clifton C, Globe,

Ariz.
Misner, Jackson H., Bisbee,

Ariz.
McMillen, Albert C., New

York, N. Y.
Norton, Gould G., Tampa,

Fla.
Orme, Norman L., Phoenix,

Ariz.

Shot in left arm and side, June
24, 1898, at Las Guasimas.
G. S. left shoulder.

Owens, William A., Jerome,
Ariz.

Proffit, William B., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

Peck,JohnC.,Santa Fe, N.M.

Pollock, Horatio C., Phoe-
nix, Ariz.

Patterson, Hal. A., Selma,
Ala.

Roberts, Frank S., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Rinehart, Robert, Phoenix,
Ariz.

Stanton, Richard H., Phoe-
nix, Ariz.

Saunders, Wellman H., Sa-
lem, Mass.

Snodderly, William L., Bis-
bee, Ariz.

Smith, Race H., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Shot in stomach, breast, and
arms by shrapnel, July 2,
1898, before Santiago.

Schenck, Frank W., Phoe-
nix, Ariz.

Stewart, W. Walton, Selma,
Ala.

Toland, Jesse T., Bisbee,
Ariz.

Truman, George E., San
Antonio, Tex.

Townsend, Albert B., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

Tilkie, Charles M., Chicago,
111.

Van Treese, Louis H., Tuc-
son, Ariz.

Warford, David E., Globe,
Ariz.

Shot in both thighs, July i,
1898, before Santiago de
Cuba.

Webb, William W., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

Wiggins, Thomas W., Bis-
bee, Ariz.

Shot in right hip at Las Guasi-
mas, June 24, 1898. G. S.
left hip.

Whittaker, George C., Sil-
ver City, N. M.

Wilkerson, Wallace W.,
Santa Fe, N. M.

Woodward, SidneyH.,King-
man, Ariz.

Young, Thomas H., Phoe-
nix, Ariz.

VOL. XI.— K

242 The Rough Riders

DISCHARGED
Bird, Marshall M California.

Discharged on Surgeon's certificate of disability. Fracture of skull
and concussion of brain incurred in line of duty, Aug. 8, 1898.

Cronin, Cornelius P Yuma, Ariz.

Discharged, June 13, 1898, on Surgeon's certificate.

Crimmins, Martin L New York, N. Y.

Mustered out to accept commission, July 29, 1898.

Goodrich, David M Akron, O.

Discharged, May 19, 1898, to accept commission.

Murphy, James E Delrio, Ariz.

Discharged, Sept. loth, by order of Secretary of War. Shot in
head, July i, 1898, before Santiago de Cuba.

DIED
Hall, Joel R Corporal Seattle, Wash.

Killed, July i, 1898, before Santiago de Cuba, buried on field of
battle.

Logue, David Globe, Ariz.

Killed, July i, 1898, before Santiago de Cuba; buried on field of
battle.

Norton, Oliver B

Killed, July i, 1898, before Santiago de Cuba; buried on field of
battle.

Saunders, W. H Salem, Mass.

Died of fever at Santiago.

Smith, Race W San Antonio, Tex.

Died of wounds received July 2, 1898.

Swetman, John W Globe, Ariz.

Killed, July i, 1898, before Santiago de Cuba; buried on field of
battle.

Tomlinson, Leroy E

Sent to hospital boat, June 19, 1898, en route to Cuba; fever. Cer-
tificate of death dated June 23, 1898. Body and effects sent
ashore, care Capt. Stephens, Signal Corps, U. S. A. Typhoid fever
contracted in line of duty.

TROOP C
CAPTAIN JOSEPH L. B. ALEXANDER

Jos. L. B. Alexander. Captain Phoenix, Ariz.

Robert S. Patterson, .ist Lieutenant. . .Safford, Ariz.
Hal Sayre, Jr 2d Lieutenant. . . Denver, Col.

Muster-Out Roll

243

Willis O. Huson....
James H. Maxey. . . .

Sam W. Noyes

Adam H. Klingham.
Sumner H. Gerard. .
John McAndrew. . . .
Eldridge E. Jordan..
Wilbur D. French. ..
Hedrick M. Warren.
Bruce C. Weathers..
Frank A. Woodin. . .
Chas. A. Armstrong.
Elisha E. Garrison. .
William T. Atkins..,

Oscar J. Mullen

Frank Marti

John A. W. Stelzriede

James G. Yost

Frank Vans Agnew.
Francis L. Morgan . .
Jerome W. Lankford

.ist Sergeant. . . . Yuma, Ariz.

Q.-M. Sergeant. .Yuma, Ariz.

Sergeant Tucson, Ariz.

.Sergeant Flagstaff, Ariz.

.Sergeant New York, N. Y.

Sergeant CongressJ'c'n,Ariz.

Sergeant Phoenix, Ariz.

Corporal Safford, Ariz.

Corporal Phoenix, Ariz.

.Corporal Safford, Ariz.

Corporal Phoenix, Ariz.

.Corporal San Jose, Cal.

.Corporal New York, N. Y.

. Corporal Selma, Ala.

Corporal Tempe, Ariz.

Trumpeter Jerome, Ariz.

. Trumpeter Tempe, Ariz.

.Blacksmith Prescott, Ariz.

.Farrier Kissimee, Fla.

Saddler White Hills, Ariz.

.Wagoner White Hills, Ariz.

TROOPERS

Asay, Wm., Safford, Ariz.

Anderson, Thomas A., San
Antonio, Tex.

Barthell, Peter K., King-
man, Ariz.

Bradley, Peter, Jerome, Ariz.

Burks,Robt.E,Prescott,Ariz.

Byrns, Orlando C., Pres-
cott, Ariz.

Bowler, George P., New
York, N. Y.

Carleton, William C., Tempe,
Ariz.

Carlson, Carl, Tempe, Ariz.

Cartledge, Crantz, Tempe,
Ariz.

Coleman, Lockhart G., St.
Louis, Mo.

Danforth, Clyde L., Flag-
staff, Ariz.

Danforth, Wm. H., Flag-
staff, Ariz.

Dewees, John L., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Duncan, Arthur G., New
York.

Engel, Edwin P., Phcenix,
Ariz.

Force, Peter, Selma, Ala.

Goughan, Jas., Phoenix, Ariz.

Gibbins, Floyd J., Prescott,
Ariz.

244 The Rough Riders

Goodwin, James C., Tempe, Perry, Arthur R., Phoenix,

Ariz. Ariz.

Gardiner, John P., Boston, Ricketts, William L., Phoe-

Mass. nix, Ariz.

Gavin, Anthony, Buffalo, Roederer, John, Prescott,

N. Y. Ariz.

Hanson, Ivan M., Phoenix, Rupert, Charles W., Pres-

Ariz. cott, Ariz.

Hanson, William, Prescott, Reed, George W., Tucson,

Ariz. Ariz.

Herold, Philip M., Phoenix, Sayers, Samuel E., Yuma,

Ariz. Ariz.

Howland, Harry, Flagstaff, Scharf, Charles A., Flag-
Ariz, staff, Ariz.
Hubbell, William C., No- Sexsmith, William, Yuma,

gales, Ariz. Ariz.

Hall, Edward C., New Shackelford, Marcus L.,

Haven, Conn. Jerome, Ariz.

Kastens, Harry E., Win- Shoemaker, John, Phoenix,

slow, Ariz. Ariz.

Marvin, William E., Yuma, Skogsburg, Charles G., Saf-

Ariz. ford, Ariz.

Mason, David P., Browns- Scull, Guy H., Boston,

ville, Tex. Mass.

Moffett, Edward B., Yuma, Sloan, Thomas H., Phoenix,

Ariz. Ariz.

Neville, George A., Yuma, Somers, Fred B., Flagstaff,

Ariz. Ariz.

Norton, John W., Lockport, Trowbridge,Laf ayette, Pres-

111. cott, Ariz.

O'Leary, Daniel, Tempe, Vines, Jesse G., Phoenix,

Ariz. Ariz.

Parker, John W., Safford, Vance, William E., Austin,

Ariz. " Tex.

Payne, Forest B., Phoenix, Wormell, John A., Phoenix,

Ariz. Ariz.

Pond, Ashley, Detroit, Younger, Charles, Winslow,

Mich. Ariz.

Wright, Albert P Color Sergeant* Yuma, Ariz.

* Color Sergeant of Regiment.

Muster-Out Roll 245

DISCHARGED— Disability
Alamia, John B Private Port Isabel, Tex.

Discharged, account epileptic fits, per order A. G. O.

Pearson, Rufus W. . .Sergeant Phoenix, Ariz.

Discharged, Aug. 26, 1898, on certificate of discharge signed by Sec-
retary of War General Alger.

DISCHARGED BY ORDER
Grindell, Thomas F. .Sergeant. .* Tempe, Ariz.

Discharged by telegraph order A. G. O., Sept. 8, 1898.

Hill, Wesley Private Tempe, Ariz.

Discharged by telegraph order A. G. O., Sept. 8, 1898.

Scudder, William M. Private Chicago, 111.

Discharged per special order 204, par. 52, War Department, A. G. O.,
'Washington, D. C, Aug. 30, 1898.

Wallack, Robt. R Private Washington.

Discharged, July 19, 1898, per par. 27, S. O. 203, War Department,
A. G. O., Washington, D. C, Aug. 29, 1898, being appointed id
Lieutenant for Regular Army.

TRANSFERRED
Rowdin, John E Private Phcenix, Ariz.

Transferred, June 8, 1898, per R. O. No. 6, dated Tampa, Fla.,
June 8, 1898.

DIED
Adsit, Nathaniel B. . Private Buffalo, N. Y.

Died, Aug. ist, at Buffalo, of typhoid fever.

Clearwater, Frank H. Private Brownsville, Tex.

Died at Corpus Christi, Sept. 2, 1898, of typhoid malaria.

Newnhone, Thos. M. Private Phoenix, Ariz.

Died at hospital Fort McPherson, of typhoid fever, Aug. 4, 1898.

TROOP D
CAPTAIN R. B. HUSTON

Robert B. Huston. . . Captain Guthrie, O. T.

David M. Goodrich. . ist Lieutenant. . .Akron, Ohio.
Robt. H. M. Ferguson . 2d Lieutenant. . . New York City.

Orlando G. Palmer. . ist Sergeant Ponco City, O. T.

Gerald A. Webb Sergeant Guthrie, O. T.

246 The Rough Riders

Joseph A. Randolph. .Sergeant Waukomis, O. T.

Ira A. Hill Sergeant Newkirk, O. T.

Charles E. Hunter. . .Sergeant Enid, O. T.

Scott Reay Sergeant Blackwell, O. T.

Paul W. Hunter Sergeant Chandler, O. T.

Thomas Moran Sergeant Fort Sill, O. T.

Calvin Hill Corporal Pawnee, O. T.

George Norris Corporal Kingfisher, O. T.

John D. Roades. . . . . Corporal Hennessey, O. T.

Wounded in battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898. G. S. leg.

Lyman F. Beard Corporal Shawnee, O. T.

Henry Meagher Corporal El Reno, O. T.

Wounded in the battle before Santiago, July i, 1898. Both shoulders.

Alex. H. Denham. . . Corporal Oklahoma City,O.T

Wounded in battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898. G. S. left thigh.

Henry K. Love Corporal Tecumseh, O. T.

Harrison J. Holt Corporal Denver, Col.

William D. Amrine. . Saddler Newkirk, O. T.

Starr W. Wetmore. . .Trumpeter Newkirk, O. T.

Wounded in battle before Santiago, July i, 1898. Right thigh, se-
vere. Missile or weapon, Mauser rifle.

James T. Brown Trumpeter Newkirk, O. T.

Lorrin D. Muxlow. . .Wagoner Guthrie, O. T.

TROOPERS
Baily, William, Norman,O.T. Chase, Leslie C, Kingfisher,

Wounded in battle before San- Q T

£5* JMin? '0°?S\*^ Cook, 'Walter M., Enid,

Mauser rifle. O. T.

Beal, Fred N., Kingfisher, Crawford, William S., Enid,
O. T. O. T.

Wounded in battle of Las Guasi- Cross, William E., El Reno,
mas, June 24, 1898. G. S. leg. ^ rp

Burgess, George, Shawnee, Crocket't) Warren R> Mari.

Brandon, Perry H., Lancas- Wounded^n battle before San-

ter, O. T. tiago, July 2, 1898. Leg. Mis-
Byrne, Peter F., Guthrie, sile or weaP°n> Mauser rifle-
Cease, Forrest L., Guthrie, Cunningham, Solomon M.,

O. T. San Antonio, Tex.

Muster-Out Roll

24?

Carlow, Gerald, Boerne,
Tex.

David, Icem J., Enid, O. T.

Emery, Elzie E., Shawnee,
O. T.

Faulk, William A., Guthrie,
O. T.

Hill, Edwin M., Tecumseh,
O. T.

Honeycutt, James V., Shaw-
nee, O. T.

Eppley, Kurtz, Orange,
N.J.

Green, Charles H., Albu-
querque, N. M.

Hatch, Charles P., New-
port, R. I.

Holmes, Thomas M., New-
kirk, O. T.

Wounded in battle before San-
tiago, July i, 1898. Left leg,
severe. Missile or weapon,
Mauser rifle.

Haynes, Jacob M., New-
kirk, O. T.

Howard, John S., Boerne,
Tex.

Ishler, Shelby F., Enid, O.T.

Wounded in battle of Las
Guasimas, June 24, 1898.
G. S. right forearm.

Ivy, Charles B., Waco, Tex.
Johnston, Edward W.,Cush-
ing, O. T.

Wounded in battle before San-
tiago, July i, 1898. Right thigh.

Joyce, Walter, Guthrie,
O.T.

Knox, William F.

Laird, Emmett, Albu-
querque, N. M.

Loughmiller, Edgar F.,
Oklahoma City, O. T.

Lovelace, Carl, Waco, Tex.

Lush, Henry, El Reno, O.T.

McMillan, Robert L., Shaw-
nee, O. T.

Wounded in battle before San-
tiago, July i, 1898. Left
shoulder and arm.

McClure, David V., Okla-
homa City, O. T.

McMurtry, Geo. G., Pitts-
burg, Pa.

Miller, Roscoe B., Guthrie,
O. T.

Miller, Volney D., Guthrie,
O. T.

Munn, Edward, Elizabeth,
N.J.

Newcomb, Marcellus L.,
Kingfisher, O. T.

Wounded in battle of Las Guasi-
mas, June 24, 1898. G. S.
right knee.

Norris, Warren, Kingfisher,
O. T.

Palmer, William F., Shaw-
nee, O. T.

Proctor, Joseph H., Paw-
nee, O. T.

Pollock, William, Pawnee,
O. T.

Russell, Albert P., El Reno,
O. T.

Sands, George H., Guthrie,
O. T.

Schmutz, John C, German-
town, Ohio.

Scott, Cliff D., Clifton,
O. T.

248 The Rough Riders

Schupp, Eugene, Santa Fe, Thomas, Albert M.,Guthrie,

N. M. O. T.

Shanaf elt, Dick, Perry, O. T. Vanderslke J. E., Enid, O.T.

Shipp, Edward M., King- Van Valen, Alexander L.,

fisher, O. T. Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Stewart, Clare H., Pawnee, Wolff, Frederick W., San

O. T. Antonio, Tex.

Stewart, Clyde H., Pawnee, Wright, William O., Paw-

O. T. nee, O. T.

Tauer, William L., Ponca Wright, Edward L.,Guthrie,

City, O. T. O. T.

DISCHARGED
Shockey, James M. . .Corporal Perry, O. T.

Discharged, July i, 1898, by order of Asst. Adjt. Gen'l.

Luther, Arthur A ... Farrier Pawnee, O. T.

Discharged, July i, 1898, by order of Asst. Adjt. Gen'l.

Page, John F Private Alva, O. T.

Discharged by verbal order of Gen'l Wood, Aug. 6, 1898.

Wells, Joseph O Private St. Joseph, Mich.

Discharged by order of Asst. Adjt. Gen'l, Aug. 27, 1898.

Simpson, William S . Corporal Dallas, Tex.

Discharged by reason of promotion into regular army, as 2d Lieut,
Sept. 3, 1898.

TRANSFERRED
Schuyler,A.McGinnis ist Lieutenant. . .Newkirk, O .T.

Promoted to Captain and transferred to Troop I ist U. S. V. C.,
May 19, 1898.

Schweizer, Jacob. . . .2d Lieutenant. . . El Reno, O. T.

Promoted to ist Lieut, and assigned to duty as Q,-M. ist U. S. V. C.,
May 19, 1898.

Carr, Joseph A ist Lieutenant. . .Washington, D. C.

Transferred to Troop K ist U. S. V. C., Sept. 5, 1898. Wounded in
battle before Santiago, July 2, 1898. Left testicle. Missile or
weapon, Mauser rifle.

TROOPERS

Douthett, Matthew, Guthrie, Freeman, Elisha L., Ponca
O. T. City, O. T.

Appointed Q;-M. Sergeant ist Transferred to Troop K ist

"• ^ V. C, Max „. .8*

Muster-Out Roll

249

Folk, Theodore, Oklahoma
City, N. M.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C., May xx, 1898.

Hulme, Robert A., El Reno,
O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C., May n, 1898.

Jordan, Andrew M., El
Reno, O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C, May n, 1898.

McGinty, William, Still-
water, O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C., May n, 1898.

Mitchell, Wm. H., Guthrie,
O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C, May n, 1898.

Staley, Francis M., Wau-
komis, O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C, May n, 1898.

Smith, Fred, Guthrie, O.T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C, May n, 1898.

Weitzel, John F., Newkirk,
O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C., May n, 1898.

Woodward, John A., El
Reno, O. T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C, May 11, 1898.

Wilson, F.M., Guthrie, O.T.

Transferred to Troop K ist
U. S. V. C, May n, 1898.

Burke, Edw.F., Orange, NJ.

Transferred to Troop A ist
U. S. V. C., July 13, 1898.

DIED

Cashion, Roy V Private Hennessey, O. T.

Killed in battle before Santiago, July i, 1898. Head.

Miller, Theodore W. Private Akron, Ohio.

Wounded in battle before Santiago, July i, 1898. Died from effects
of wound, July 8, 1898. Penetrating neck; severe — totally para-
lyzed from head down.

DESERTED
Crosley, Henry S Private Guthrie, O. T.

Dropped from the rolls as deserted, July 8, 1898.

TROOP E
CAPTAIN FREDERICK MULLER

Frederick Muller. . .
William E. Griffin. .
John A. Mcllhenny,
John S. Langston . .
Royal A. Prentice . .

. Captain Santa Fe, N. M.

. ist Lieutenant. . .Santa Fe, N. M.
. 2d Lieutenant. . . New Orleans, La.
.ist Sergeant. . . . Cerrillos, N. M.
. Q.-M. Sergeant. .Las Vegas, N. M.

250 The Rough Riders

Hugh B. Wright Sergeant Las Vegas, N. M.

Albert M. Jones Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Timothy Breen Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Wounded and sent to hospital, July i, 1898. Arm.

Berry F. Taylor Sergeant Las Vegas, N. M.

Thos. P. Ledgwidge. Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

John Mullen Sergeant Chicago, 111.

Wounded and sent to hospital, July i, 1898. Side and head; severe.

Harman H. Wynkoop . Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Wounded in line of duty and sent to hospital, July 2, 1898. Returned
to duty, Sept. 4, 1898.

James M. Dean Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Wounded in line of duty and sent to hospital, June 24, 1898. Re-
turned to duty, Aug. 31, 1898. G. S. left thigh.

Edward C. Waller. . .Corporal Chicago, 111.

Wounded in line of duty, July 2, 1898. Scalp, slight.

G. Roland Fortescue. Corporal New York, N. Y.

Slight bullet wound in foot, July i, 1898.

Edward Bennett Corporal Cripple Creek, Col.

Chas. E Knoblauch. .Corporal New York, N. Y.

Richard C. Conner. . .Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Ralph E. McFie Corporal Las Cruces, N. M.

Arthur J. Griffin Trumpeter Santa Fe, N. M.

Edward S. Lewis. . . .Trumpeter Las Vegas, N. M.

Robert J. Parrish Blacksmith Clayton, N. M.

Grant Hill Farrier Santa Fe, N. M.

Joe T. Sandoval Saddler Santa Fe, N. M.

Guilford B. Chapin. .Wagoner Sartta Fe, N. M.

TROOPERS

Ausburn, Charles G., New Cooper, George B., Tampa,

Orleans, La. Fla.

Almack, Roll, Santa Fe, Conway, James, San An-

N. M. tonio, Tex.

Brennan, John M., Santa Dettamore, George W.,

Fe, N. M. Clayton, N. M.

Baca, Jose M., Las Vegas, Wounded in line of duty and

•vr TUT sent to hospital, July i, 1898.

Beard, William M., San Davis, Harry A., Boston,
Antonio, Tex. Mass.

Muster-Out Roll

251

Dodge, George H., Denver,

Col.

Debli, Joseph, Tampa, Fla.
Donavan, Freeman M.,

Santa Fe, N. M.
Douglas, James B., New

York, N. Y.
Easley, William T., Clayton,

N. M.

Edwards, Lawrence W.
Fries, Frank D., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Francis, Mack, Maynesville,

N. C.
Fettes, George, Antonito,

Col.
Gisler, Joseph, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Gibbs, James P., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Gibbie, William R., Las

Vegas, N. M.
Grigsby, Braxton, New

York, N. Y.

Grigg, John G., San An-
tonio, Tex.
Gammel, Roy U., Jersey

Co., 111.
Harding, John D., Socoro,

N. M.
Hood, John B., New York,

N. Y.
Harkness, Daniel D., Las

Vegas, N. M.
Hutchison, William M.,

Santa Fe, N. M.
Hall, John P., Williamson

Co., Tex.

Wounded in line of duty and

sent to hospital, July i, 1898.
Returned to duty, Aug. 31,
1898.

Hogle, William H., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Hudson, Arthur J., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Hulskotter, John, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Hutchason, Joseph M., Jim-
town, Tenn.

Howell, William S. E., Cer-
rillos, N. M.

Hadden, David A., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Hixon, Thomas L., Las
Vegas, N. M.

Heard, Judson, Pecos City,
Tex.

Hamlin, Warden W., Chi-
cago, 111.

Jones, Thomas B., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Johnston, Charles E., San
Antonio, Tex.

Jacobus, Charles W., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Knapp, Edgar A., Elizabeth,
N. J.

Kingsley, Charles E., Las
Vegas, N. M.

Kissam, William A., New
York, N. Y.

Lowe, Frank, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Ludy, Dan, Las Vegas,
N. M.

Livingston, Thos. C., Ham-
ilton Co., Tex.

252

The Rough Riders

Lowitzki, Hyman S., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Lewis, James.
Merchant, James E., Cerril-

los, N. M.
Moran, William J., Cerril-

los, N. M.
McKinnon, Samuel, Madrid,

N. M.
McKinley, Charles E., Cer-

rillos, N. M.

Wounded in line of duty, July
i, 1898. Head.

McKay, Charles F., Santa
Fe, N. M.

McCabe, Frederick H., San-
ta Fe, N. M.

McDowell, John C, Santa
Fe, N. M.

Morrison, Amaziah B., Las
Vegas, N. M.

Mahan, Lloyd L., Cerrillos,
N. M.

Martin, Henry D., Cerril-
los, N. M.

Menger, Otto F., Clayton,
N. M.

Wounded in line of duty, July
i, 1898. Sent to hospital.
Left side.

Mttngor, William C., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Nettleblade, Adolph F., Cer-
rillos, N. M.

Roberts, Thomas, Golden,
N. M.

Ryan, John E., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Wounded July i, 1898, in line
of duty.

Ramsey, Homer M., Pear-
sail, Tex.

Seaders, Ben. F., Las Ve-
gas, N. M.

Skinner, Arthur V., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Schnepple, William C., San-
ta Fe, N. M.

Scanlon, Edward, Cerrillos,
N. M.

Slevin, Edward, Tampa,
Fla.

Taylor, William R., New
York, N. Y.

Wagner, Wm. W., Bland,
N. M.

Wright, George, Madrid,
N. M.

Wynkoop, Chas. W., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Warren, George W., Santa
Fe, N. M.

DISCHARGED
Dame, William E ist Sergeant Cerrillos, N. M.

Discharged per O. reg. comds., Aug. 10, 1898.

Wesley, Frederick C. Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Discharged on account of disability, Aug. 26, 1898. Wounded fore-
arm, slight, July i, 2, or 3.

Muster-Out Roll 253

TRANSFERRED BY VERBAL ORDER REGI-
MENTAL COMMANDER, MAY 12, 1898

Reber, William R. . . Sergeant

Price, Stuart R. . . n. /Corporal

Bernard, William C. . Trooper

Brown, Hiram T . . . . Trooper

Bump, Arthur L Trooper

Cloud, William Trooper

Davis, Henry Clay. . Trooper

Duran, Jose L Trooper

Easton, Stephen Trooper

Fennell, William A. . Trooper

Fleming, Clarence A . Trooper

Holden, Prince A Trooper

Land, Oscar N Trooper

Martin, John Trooper

Roberts, John P Trooper

Stephens, Orregon. . .Trooper

Torbett, John G Trooper

Williams, Thomas C. Trooper . . . '.

Zigler, Daniel J Trooper

DIED
Cochran, Irad, Jr Trooper

Died, May 26, 1898, San Antonio, Tex. Spinal meningitis.

Miller, John S Trooper

Died, July 16, 1898, of yellow fever, at Siboney, Cuba.

Judson, Alfred M . . . Trooper

Died, Aug. 17, 1898, of typhoid fever, at Montauk Point, L. L

O'Neill, John Trooper

Died, Aug. 3, 1898, of dysentery, at Edgmont Key, Fla.

KILLED
Green, Henry C Trooper

Killed in action, July i, 1898, near Santiago de Cuba.

Robinson, John F . . . Trooper

Killed in action, July 2, 1898, near Santiago de Cuba.

ALTERATIONS, SEPTEMBER, 7, 1898
Sherrard, Coleman. . .ist Lieutenant. . .Santa Fe, N. M.
John A. Mcllhenny. .2d Lieutenant. . . New Orleans, La.

254 The Rough Riders

TROOP F
CAPTAIN MAXIMILIAN LUNA

Maximilian Luna. . . .Captain. Santa Fe, N. M.

Horace W. Weakley.ist Lieutenant. . .Santa Fe, N. M.
William E. Dame. . . 2d Lieutenant. . . Santa Fe, N. M.

Transferred from Troop E to F.

Horace E. Sherman, ist Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Garfield Hughes Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Thos. D. Fennessy. . .Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

William L. Mattocks. Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

James Doyle Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

George W. Armijo. . .Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Wounded in action, June 24th. G. S. wrist.

Eugene Bohlinger . . . Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Herbert A. King Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Edward Donnelly Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

John Cullen Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Edward Hale Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Arthur P. Spenser. . .Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

John Boehnke Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Albert Powers Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Wounded in action, July i, 1898.

WentworthS. Conduit Corporal Santa Fe, N. M.

Ray V. Clark Farrier Santa Fe, N. M.

Contusion scalp, slight. Missile shrapnel. Wounded near Santiago
de Cuba, July i, 2, or 3, 1898.

Charles R. Gee Farrier Santa Fe, N. M.

Jefferson Hill Wagoner Santa Fe, N. M.

J. Kirk McKurdy Trumpeter San Antonio, Tex.

Arthur L. Perry Bugler Santa Fe, N. M.

Shoulder. Mauser rifle. Wounded near Santiago de Cuba, July i,
2, or 3, 1898.

TROOPERS

Albers, H. L., Santa Fe, Albertson, Ed J., Santa Fe,

N. M. N. M.

Wounded in action, June 24, Wounded in action, June 24. G.

1898. G. S. right wrist. S. wrist.

Muster-Out Roll

255

Alexander James, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Abbott, Chas. G., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Adams, Edgar S., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Alexander, James F., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Black, James S., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Bailey, Robert Z., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Wounded in action, June 24th.
G. S. both legs.

Boschen, John, San An-
tonio, Tex.

Bell, Wm, A., Tampa, Fla.

Brennan, Jeremiah, Santa
Fe, N. M.

Burris, Walter C, Santa
Fe, N. M.

Byrne, John, Muscogee, I. T

Transferred from Troop L to F.

Bell, John H., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Cochran, William O., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Clark, Frank J., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Colbert, Benjamin H., San
Antonio, Tex.

Christian, Edward D., Tam-
pa, Fla.

•Clelland, Calvin G., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Conley, Edward C., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Cochran, Willard M., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Cherry, Charles C., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Dougherty, Louis, Santa

Fe, N. M.
De Bohun, John C., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Farley, William, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Freeman, Will, Santa Fe,

N. M.

Wounded by fragments of shell
in wrist, July i, 1898. Left
wrist.

Gibbs, Henry M., Santa Fe,

N. M.

Gunshot wound in foot, July i,
1898.

Gallagher, Wm. D., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Goldberg, Samuel, Santa

Fe, N. M.

Wounded in action, July i, 1898.
Hip. Mauser rifle.

Glessner, Otis, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Green, John D., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Hartle, Albert C., Santa

Fe, N. M.

Gunshot wound in testicles, June
24, 1898.

Hopping, Charles O., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Hammer, George, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Kennedy, Stephan A., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Leffert, Charles E., Santa

Fe, N. M.
List, Guy M., Santa Fe,

N. M. '

2S6

The Rough Riders

Leach, John M., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Le Stourgeon, E. Guy, San
Antonio, Tex.

Lavelle, Nolan Z., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Martin, Thomas, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Mills, John B., Santa Fe,
N. M.

McGregor, Herbert P., San-
ta Fe, N. M.

Wounded in action, July i, 1898.
Left shoulder. Mauser rifle.

McCurdy, F. Allen, San

Antonio, Tex.
Nickell, William E., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Nesbit, Otto W., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Newitt, George W., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Neal, John M., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Parmele, Charles A., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Quier, Frank T., Santa Fe,

N. M.

Raymond, Milliard L., San-
ta Fe, N. M.
Reed, Harry B., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Reed, Clifford L., Santa Fe,

N. M.

Wounded in action, June 24,
1898. In arm.

Renner, Charles L., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Reynolds, Edwin L., Santa

Fe, N. M.

Russell, Arthur L., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Rebentisch, Adolph, San

Antonio, Tex.

Gunshot wound in shoulder,
June 24, 1898. Left shoulder.

Reyer, Adolph T., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Rogers, Albert, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Rice, Lee C, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Staub, Louis E., Santa Fe,

N. M.
Shields, William G., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Stockbridge, Arthur H.,

Santa Fe, N. M.
Sharland, George H., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Skipwith, John G., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Sinnett, James B., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Tangen, Edward, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Trump, Norman O., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Vinnedge, George E., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Wardwell, Louis C., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Warren, Paul, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Watrous, Charles E., Santa

Fe, N. M.
Weber, Beauregard, Santa

Fe, N. M.

Muster-Out Roll

257

Weller, Samuel M., San
Antonio, Tex.

Winter, John G., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Gunshot wounds in shoulder,
arm and leg, July i, 1898.

Winter, Otto R., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Wertheim, Adolph S., San

Antonio, Tex.
Walsh, John, Santa Fe,

N. M.
Wells, Thomas J., Santa

Fe. N. M.
Wilson, Harry W., Tampa,

Fla.

DISCHARGED
Douglass, James Private Santa Fe, N. M.

Discharged acct. Surgeon's certificate of disability.

TRANSFERRED
Keyes, Maxwell 2d Lieutenant. . . Santa Fe, N. M.

Promoted to Adjutant, August i, 1898.

TROOPERS

FJynn, Joseph F., Santa Fe,

N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to I,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Goodrich, Hedrick Ben,
Santa Fe, N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to 1,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Hickey, Walter, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to 1,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Hogan, Michael, Santa Fe,

N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to 1,
May 12, 1898. San Antonio,
Tex.

King, Harry Bruce, Santa
Fe, N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to 1,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Kerney, George M., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to I,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Larsen, Louis, Santa Fe,

N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to I,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

McCoy, John, Santa Fe,

N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to I,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Nehmer, Charles A., Santa
Fe, N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to I,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

Rogers, Leo G., N. M.

Transferred from Troop F to I,
May 12, 1898, San Antonio,
Tex.

258 The Rough Riders

Rafalowitz, Hyman, Santa May 12> l898> San Antonio,

Troop F ,o I,

May 1 2, 1898, San Antonio.Tex. N. M.

Spencer, Edwards John, Transferred from Troop F to I,

Santa Fe, N. M. ?£f I2' l8p8' San Antonio'

TK^UtlS5i&i1 B™com' /oseph L- Santa

Schearnhorst, Jr., Carl J., Fe» N- M-

C«*,4- T7' AT AT Transferred from Troop F to I,

banta .be, N. M. May 12, 1898, San Antonio,

Transferred from Troop F to I, Tex.

DIED
Booth, Frank B Private Madison, Wis.

Wounded in action at Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898; died at Key
West, August 30, 1898. G. S. right shoulder.

Erwin, William T. . . Private Austin, Tex.

Killed in action, June 24, 1898, Las Guasimas. G. S. head.
Endsley, Guy D Private Somerfield, Pa.

Died in Cuba, July 18, 1898, of fever.

DESERTED
Thompson, Charles. . Private Mercer Co., W. Va.

Deserted at Tampa, Fla., July 27, 1898.

DISCHARGED
Mcllhenny, John A. .Corporal San Antonio, Tex.

Discharged to accept commission.

TROOP G
CAPTAIN WILLIAM H. H. LLEWELLEN

Wm. H. H. LlewellenCaptain Las Cruces, N. M.

John Wesley Green, .ist Lieutenant. . .Gallup, N. M.
David J. Leahy 2d Lieutenant. . . Raton, N. M.

On sick list from July ist to Sept. 3d from wound received in San
Juan battle.

Columbus H. McCaa.ist Sergeant Gallup, N. M.

Jacob S. Mohler Q.-M. Sergeant. .Gallup, N. M.

Raymond Morse Sergeant

Rolla A. Fullenweider. Sergeant Raton, N. M.

Muster-Out Roll 259

Matthew T.McGehee. Sergeant ........ Raton, N. M.

James Brown ....... Sergeant ........ Gallup, N. M.

Nicholas A. Vyne. . . . Sergeant ........ Emporia, Kan.

Raleigh L. Miller. . . Sergeant ........ Pueblo, Col.

Henry Kirah ........ Corporal ........ Gallup, N. M.

James D. Ritchie. . . . Corporal ........ Gallup, N. M.

Luther L. Stewart . . . Corporal ........ Raton, N. M.

Wounded in battle, June 24th. Absent since on account of wound.
G. S. left forearm.

John McSparron. . . . Corporal ........ Gallup, N. M.

Wounded, July ist. Absent since on account of wound. Right
thigh, severe. Missile, shrapnel.

Frank Briggs ....... Corporal ........ Raton, N. M.

Edw. C. Armstrong. .Corporal ........ Albuquerque, N. M.

William S. Reid ..... Corporal ........ Raton, N. M.

Hiram E. Williams. . Corporal ........ Raton, N. M.

George V. Haefner. . Farrier ......... Gallup, N. M.

Frank A. Hill ....... Saddler ......... Raton, N. M.

Thomas O'Neal ..... Wagoner ........ Springer, N. M.

Willis E. Somers ____ Trumpeter ...... Raton, N. M.

Edward G. Piper ____ Trumpeter ...... Silver City, N. M.

Alvin C. Ash ....... Trooper ......... Raton, N. M.

Absent from command since July ist to Sept. 7th on account of wound
received in battle. Wrist, slight. Missile, shrapnel.

TROOPERS

Arnold, Edward B., Pres- Brown, Robert, Gallup,

cott, Ariz. N. M.

Akin, James E., Dolores, Brown, Edwin M., San An-

Col. tonio, Tex.

Anderson, Arthur T., Al- Brazelton, William H., St.

buquerque, N. M. Louis, Mo.

Andrews, William C., Sul- Beissel, John J., Gallup,

phur Springs, Tex. N. M.

Beck, Joseph H., San An- Camp, Cloid, Raton, N. M.

tonio, Tex. Camp, Marion, Raton,N.M.

Bishop, Louis B., San An- Covenaugh, Thomas F.,

tonio, Tex. Raton, N. M.

Brumley, Jr., William H., Absent ««<* June, 24th on ac-

~ . • *+ \ count of wound received in

Dolores, Col. battle.

260

The Rough Riders

Cody, William E., St.
Louis, Mo.

Chopetal, Frank W., Buf-
falo, N. Y.

Coyle, Michael H., Raton,
N. M.

Absent on sick leave since June
24th on account of wound in
arm received in battle.

Clark, Winslow, Milton,

Mass.

Absent on sick leave since July
ist on account of gunshot wound
through lung received in bat-
tle. Right lung, severe. Mis-
sile or weapon, Mauser rifle.

Cotton, Frank W., Jen-
nings, La.

Conover, Alfred J., Chica-
see, I. T.

Detwiler, Sherman, Musca-
tine, la.

Dunn, Alfred B., Calvert,
Tex.

Edmunds, John H., Alle-
ghany, Pa.

Faupel, Henry F., Marting-
ton, 111.

Fornoff, Frederick, Albu-
querque, N. M.

Fitch, Roger S., Buffalo,
N. Y.

Gibson, William C, Gallup,
N. M.

Gevers, Louis, Austin, Tex.

Absent from July ist till Aug.

ad on account of gunshot

wound in hips received in
battle.

Goodwin, John, Gallup, N.M.
Healey, Frank F., Brook-
lyn, N. Y.

Henderson, John, Gallup,

N. M.

Absent from July ist to Sept.
2d on account of wound in
arm received in battle. Wrist.
Missile or weapon, Mauser
rifle.

Henshaw, Laten R., El
Paso, Tex.

Johnson, Albert John, Ra-
ton, N. M.

Kline, John S., San Mar-
cial, N. M.

Keeley, Bert T., Lamy,
N. M.

King, Henry A., Massitee,
Mich.

Littleton, Elias M., Spring-
er, N. Ml

Lincoln, Malcolm D., Luck-
now, I. T.

Larson, Anton, Silverton,
Col.

Lyle, James C., George-
town, Col.

Miller, Frank P., Los An-
geles, Cal.

Meyers, Fred P., Gallup,
N. M.

Reduced from ist Sergt. to
Trooper on account of absence
caused by wound received in
battle, July i, 1898. Head,
severe.

Moran, Daniel, Gallup,
N. M.

Mann, Eugene M., Omaha,
Neb.

McCarthy, George H., Los
Angeles, Cal.

McKinney, Frank G., Har-
rison, Ark.

Muster-Out Roll

261

McKinney, Oliver, Cannon
City, Col.

McMullen, Samuel J., St.
Louis, Mo.

Noish, John, Raton, N. M.

Phipps, T. W., Bland, N.M.

Petty, Archibald, Gallup,
N. M.

Pennington, Elijah, San
Antonio, Tex.

Preston, Robert A., Stiles,
Tex.

Quigg, George H., Gallup,
N. M.

Quinn, Walter D., San
Marcial, N. M.

Radcliff, William, Gallup,
N. M.

Richards, Richard, Albu-
querque, N. M.

Rayburn, Harry C, Cam-
den, la.

Reid, Robert W., Raton,
N. M.

Absent on sick leave from June
24th to Sept. 8th on account
of wound in side received in
battle. G. S. to right hip.

Ragland, Robt. C., Guthrie,

O. T.
Roland, George, Deming,

N. M.

G. S. right side, June 24, 1898.

Stillson Earl, Topeka,
Kan.

Simmons, Chas. M., Raton,
N. M.

Slaughter, Benjamin, San
Antonio, Tex.

Shannon, Chas. W., Raton,
N. M.

Thomas, Neal, Aztec, N.M.

Travis, Grant, Aztec, N. M.

Van Horn, Eustace E., Hal-
stead, Kan.

Welch, Toney, Durango,
Col.

Whittington, Richard, Gal-
lup, N. M.

Whited, Lyman E., Raton,
N. M.

Wood, William D., Bland,
N. M.

Wright, Clarence, Springer,
N. M.

DISCHARGED
Swan, George D Gallup, N. M.

Discharged on account of disability.

Thompson, Frank M Aztec, N. M.

Discharged on account of disability.

DESERTED
McCulloch, Sam'l T Springer, N. M.

Deserted from camp at Tampa, Fla., Aug. 4, 1898.

262 The Rough Riders

DEATHS
Green, J. Knox Rancho, Tex.

Died at Montauk Point, N. Y., Camp U. S. Troops, Aug. 15, because
of sickness which originated in line of duty.

Lutz, Eugene A Raton, N. M.

Detained in yellow-fever hospital by medical authorities when regiment
left Cuba. Died in same, Aug. 15, 1898.

KILLED IN ACTION
Haefner, Henry J Gallup, N. M.

In battle, June 24, 1898.

Russell, Marcus D Troy, N. Y.

Killed in action, June 24, 1898.

TRANSFERRED
Arendt, Henry J Sergeant Gallup, N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May i2th.

Corbe, M. C Trumpeter

Transferred to Troop K, May nth.

TROOPERS

Bailie, Henry C., Gallup, Donnelly, Rutherford ' B.

N. M. H., Jefferson, O. T.

Transferred from Troop 1 to Transferred to Troop I, May

Troop G, Aug. 31, 1898. iath.

Love, William J., Raton, Evans, Evan, Gallup, N. M.

N. M. Transferred to Troop 1, May

Transferred to Troop I, May rath.

Groves, Oscar W., Raton,

Morgan, Schuyler C., Haz- ^ '

ard, Ky. Transferred to Troop I, May

Transferred to Troop I, May I2th
i2th.

Morgan, Ulysses G., Haz- Jones> William H., Raton,

ard Ky N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May ^h^1'1'6'1 tO Tr°°P T' May

Odell, William D., Parkers- Kania, Frank, Jamestown,

burg, W. Va. N. D.

Transferred to Troop I, May Transferred to Troop K, May

rath. nth.

Muster-Out Roll

263

Pierce, Ed., Chicago, 111.

Transferred to Troop I, May
1 2th.

Saville, Michael, Chicago,
111.

Transferred to Troop I, May
1 2th.

Sinnett, Lee, Maizeville, W.
Va.

Transferred to Troop I, May
izth.

Tait, John H., Raton. N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May
i2th.

Peabody,Harry, Raton,N.M.

Transferred to Troop I, May
i2th.

McGowan, Alexander, Gal-
lup, N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May
i2th.

Brown, John, Gallup, N.M.

Transferred to Troop I, May
1 2th.

Crockett, Joseph B., Raton,
N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May
i2th.

TROOP H
CAPTAIN GEORGE CURRY

George Curry Captain Tularosa, N. M.

William H. Kelly. . . Tist Lieutenant. . . E. Las Vegas, N.M.
Charles L. Ballard. . .2d Lieutenant. . . Roswell, N. M.

Green A. Settle 1st Sergeant Jackson Co., Ky.

Nevin P. Gutilius Sergeant Tularosa, N. M.

William A. Mitchell. Sergeant El Paso, Tex.

Oscar de Montell Sergeant Roswell, N. M.

Sergeant Denver, Col.

Sergeant Columbia, S. C.

. Sergeant Silver City, N. M.

, Sergeant Roswell, N. M.

, Corporal Silver City, N. M.

.Corporal Las Cruces, N. M.

, Corporal Roswell, N. M.

Morgan O.B.Lewellyn Corporal Las Cruces, N. M.

James C. Hamilton . . Corporal Roswell, N. M.

George F. Jones Corporal El Paso, Tex.

. Corporal Eddy, N. M.

, .Corporal El Paso, Tex.

. .Trumpeter. Beaumont, Tex.

. Trumpeter Santa Fe, N. M.

Thomas Darnell

Willis J. Physioc. ..

Michael C. Rose

Nova A. Johnson . . .
Morton M. Morgan.
Arthur E. Williams.
Frank Murray.

Charles P. Cochran

John M.Kelly

Robert E. Ligon
Gaston R. Dehumy.

Uriah Sheard Blacksmith El Paso, Tex.

264

The Rough Riders

Robert L. Martin. . . .Farrier Santa Fe, N. M.

John Shaw Saddler Scott Co., Iowa.

Taylor B. Lewis Wagoner Las Cruces, N. M.

TROOPERS
Allison, Jovillo, Benton- Doty, George B., Santa Fe,

ville, Ark. N. M.

Amonette, Albert B., Ros- Dunkle, Frederick W., East

Las Vegas, N. M.
Douglas, Arthur L., Eddy,

well, N. M.
Bendy, Cecil C., El Paso,

Tex. N. M.

Black, Columbus L., Las Eaton, Frank A., Silver

Cruces, N. M.
Bryan, John B., Las Cruces,

N. M. '
Bogardus,

Frank,
Cruces, N. M.

City, N. M.

Fletcher, Augustus C., Sil-
ver City, N. M.

Las Frye, Obey B., Flagstaff,
Ariz.

Brown, Percy, Spring Hill, Gasser, Louis, El Paso, Tex.

Tenn. George, Ira W., Quincy, 111.

Baker, Philip S., Clinton, Grisby, James B., Deming,

Iowa.

N. M.

Bullard, John W., Guada- Hamilton, James M., Dem-

loupe, Tex.

Connell, Thomas J., Ben-
nett, Tex.

Corbett, Thomas F., Ros-
well, N. M.

ing, N. M.

Herring, Leary O., Silver
City, N. M.

Hunt, Le Roy R., Cincin-
nati, O.

Cornish, Thomas J., Free- Houston, Robert C., Hills-

stone, Tex.

Crawford, Clinton K., Cin-
cinnati, O.

boro, N. M.

James, Frank W., Marion
Co., Ga.

Cone, John S., Tularosa, Johnson, Charles, Lund,

N. M.
Duran, Abel B., Silver City,

N. M.

Sweden.

Johnson, Harry F., Beau-
mont, Tex.

Duran, Jose L., Santa Fe, Johnson, Lewis L., Beau-

N. M.

mont, Tex.

Dorsey, Lewis, Silver City, Kehoe, Michael J., Ottawa,

N. M.

Canada.

Muster-Out Roll

265

Kehn, Amandus, Silver City,
N. M.

Kinnebrugh, Ollie A., El
Paso, Tex.

Kendall, Harry J., Coles-
burg, Ky.

Lawson, Frank H., Las
Cruces, N. M.

Lewis, Adelbert, Beaver
Co., Utah.

Lannonjno., Hillsboro, Tex.

Mooney, Thomas A., Silver
City, N. M.

Moneckton, Wm. J., San
Antonio, Tex.

McAdams, Joel H., Mt.
Pilia, Tenn.

McAdams, Richard P., Mt.
Pilia, Tenn.

McCarty, Frederick J.,
Mentzville, Mo.

Murray, George F., Dem-
ing, N. M.

Nobles, William H., Silver
City, N. M.

Neff,Nettleton,Cincinnati,O.

Owens, Clay T., El Paso,
Tex.

Ott,C.H., Silver City, N. M.

Pace John, Bentonville, Ark.

Pipkins, Price.

Powell, Lory H., Roswell,
N. M.

Pronger, Norman W., Sil-
ver City, N. M.

Pollock, John F., Tularosa,
N. M.

Piersol, James M., Os-
borne, Mo.

Roberson, James R., Belle
Co., Tex.

Rutherford, Bruce H.,
Pana, 111.

Regan, John J., Beaumont,
Tex.

Sharp, Emerson E., Wana-
maker, Tenn.

Stewart, Newtown, El Paso,
Tex.

Scroggins, Oscar, Logan
Co., 111.

St. Clair, Edward C., New
Orleans, La.

Saucier, Harry S., New
Orleans, La.

Schutt, Henry, Warren, Pa.

Sawyer, Benjamin, Hills-
boro, 111.

Thompson, Alexander M.,
Deming, N. M.

Traynor, William S., Wil-
cox, Ariz.

Thomas, Theodore C.,
Leavenworth, Kan.

Waggoner, Daniel G., Ros-
well, N. M.

Waggoner, Curtis C., Ros-
well, N. M.

Wilson, Charles E., Boul-
der, Col.

Wilkinson, Samuel I., Cin-
cinnati, O.

Woodson, Pickens E.,
Honey Grove, Tex.

Wheeler, Frank G., Cha-
tauqua Co., N. Y.

Wickham, Patrick A., So-
corro, N. M.

VOL. XI.— L

266

The Rough Riders

DISCHARGED
Rynerson, Wm. L. . . Sergeant Las Cruces, N. M.

Discharged from service of U. S. Army by reason of special order
No. 145 Hd. Qrs., U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.

TRANSFERRED

John B. Wiley Sergeant

Transferred to Troop I, May 12, 1898.

Joseph F. Kansky. . . Sergeant

John V. Morrison. . . Sergeant Santa Fe, N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12, 1898.

TROOPERS
Lee, Robert E., Donabua, Frenger, Mima C., Las

N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Bennett, Orton A., Jack Co.,
Tex.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Brito, Jose, El Paso, Tex.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Brito, Frank C., El Paso,
Tex.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Gate, James S., Grape Vine,
Tex.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Casad, C. Darwin, Las
Cruces, N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Dolan, Thomas P., Ticon-
deroga, N. Y.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Farrell, Frederick P., El
Paso, Tex.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Cruces, N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Hermeyer, Ernest H., Ger-
many.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Jopling, Cal., Hamilton Co.,
Tex.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Nehmer, Wm., Germany.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Roediger, August, Char-
lotte, N. C.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Schafer, George, Pinos Al-
tos, N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Storms, Morris J., Roswell,

N. M.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Sullivan, William J., Man-
chester, Va.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12,
1898.

Muster-Out Roll 267

Fritz, William H., Windsor, Bucklin, E. W., Chautauqua
Conn. Co., N. Y.

Transferred to Troop I, May 12, Transferred to Troop L., June

1898. 8, 1898.

Eberman, Henry J., Brem- Wright, Grant, Cold Spr'gs,
en, Germany. N. Y.

Transferred from Troop K to Transferred to Troop L., June

Troop H, May 16, 1898. Re- 8, 1898.

transferred to K, June 8, 1898.
Died.

DIED

Gosling, Fred'k W. Bedfordshire, Eng.

Died in hospital at Camp Wikoff, N. Y., Aug. 19, 1898.

Casey, Ed win Eugene Las Cruces, N. M.

Died in hospital at Camp Wikoff, N. Y., Sept. i, 1898.

DESERTED
Ewell, Edward A Adrian, 111.

Deserted, June 28, 1898, at Tampa, Fla. ,

Miller, Samuel Roswell, N. M.

Deserted, June 28, 1898, at Tampa, Fla.

TROOP I
CAPTAIN SCHUYLER A. McGiNNis

Schuyler A.McGinnis Captain Newkirk, O. T.

Fred'k W. Wintge. . . ist Lieutenant. . .Santa Fe, N. M.

Samuel Grenwald 2d Lieutenant . . . Prescott, Ariz.

John B. Wylie ist Sergeant Fort Bayard, N. M.

Schuyler C. Morgan . . Q.-M. Sergeant . . Durango, Col.

John V. Morrison . . . Sergeant Springerville,Ariz.

William R. Reber Sergeant

Basil M. Ricketts Sergeant Lambs' Club, N. Y.

Percival Gassett Sergeant Dedham, Mass.

James S. Cate Sergeant Grape Vine, Tex.

Wm. H. Waff ensmith Sergeant Raton, N. M.

August Roediger. . . . Corporal Charlotte, N. C.

Numa C. Freuger Corporal Las Cruces, N. M.

William J. Sullivan. . Corporal Silver City, N. M.

The Rough Riders

William J. Nehmer. . Corporal Silver City, N. M.

Abraham L. Bainter. Corporal ColoradoSp'gs,Col.

Hiram T. Brown Corporal Albuquerque, N. M.

Errickson M. Nichols Corporal 52 E. 78th St,N.Y.

George M. Kerney. . .Corporal Globe, Ariz.

Robert E. Lea Trumpeter Dona Ana, N. M.

Cl'nce H. Underwood Trumpeter ColoradoSp'gs,Col.

Charles A. Nehmer. . Blacksmith Chicago, 111.

Hayes Donnelly Farrier Jefferson, O. T.

Leo G. Rogers Saddler Bogart, Mo.

Everett E. Holt Wagoner Coffeyville, Kan.

TROOPERS

Alexis, George D., New
Orleans, La.

Arendt, Henry J., Ho-
boken, N. J.

Armstrong, Chas. M.

Adkins, Joseph R.

Bates, William H.

Barrowe, Hallett A.

Bawcom, Joseph L., Bisbee,
Ariz.

Bennett, Horton A., Tula-
rosa, N. M.

Brito, Frank C, Pinos Al-
tos, N. M.

Brito, Jose, Los Angeles,
Cal.

Brush, Charles A., Han-
ford, Cal.

Bassage, Albert C., Corn-
ing, N. Y.

Casad, Charles D., Mesilla,
N. M.

Cloud, William.

Crockett, Joseph B., To-
peka, Kan.

Coe, George M., Albu-
querque, N. M.

Clark, Frank M., Hiawatha,
Kan.

Davis, Henry C., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Dolan, Thomas P., Pinos
Altos, N. M.

Denny, Robert W., Raton,
N. M.

Duke, Henry K., Lipscomb,
Tex.

Evans, Evan, Gallup, N. M.

Fennel, William A., Re-
union, Md.

Flynn, Joseph F., Albu-
querque, N. M.

Geiger, Percy A., Durango,
Col.

Gooch, John R., Santa Fe,

Groves, Oscar W., Raton,
N. M.

Goodrich, Ben Hedric.

Giller, Alfred C., Topeka,
Kan.

Muster-Out Roll

269

Hermeyer, Ernest H., Ros-

well, N. M.
Hickey, Walter, Wishua,

N. H.

Hogan, Michael.
Jones, William H., Raton,

N. M.

Jopling, Cal., La Luz, N. M.
King, Harry B., Raton,

N. M.

Larsen, Louis.
Love, William J., Jersey

City, N. J.
McCoy, John, Monrovia,

Cal.

McGowan, Alexander, Gal-
lup, N. M.
Martin, John, Decanter,

111.
Miller, Edwin H., Junction

City, Kan.
Miller, David R.
Miller, Jacob H., Needles,

Cal.
Morgan, U. S. Grant, Du-

rango, Col.
Morris, Ben F. T., Raton,

N. M.
Moore, Roscoe E., Raton,

N. M.
North, Franklin H., 2. W.

35th St., New York City.
O'Dell, William W., Park-

ersburg, W. Va.
Peabody, Harry, Raton,

N. M.
Pierce, Edward, Chicago,

111.

Price, Stewart R., Platts-
burg, Mo.

Rafalowitz, Hyman, Phila-
delphia, Pa.

Roberts, John P., Clayton,
N. M.

Reisig, Max, Y. M. C. A.,
St. Louis, Mo.

Raulett, Charles, New Or-
leans, La.

Reidy, John, Ottawa, Kan.

Shornhorst, Carl J., Jr.

Schafer, George, Pinos Al-
tos, N. M.

Sennett, Lee, Marysville,
W. Va.

Storms, Morris J., Center-
point, Tex.

Spencer, Edward John,
Clay County, Tex.

Tait, John H.

Temple, Frank, Lafayette,
Ind.

Torbett, John T., Yale, Kan.

Tritz, Wm. H., Windsor,
Conn.

Townsend, Chas. M., Fari-
bault, Minn.

Twyman, John L., Raton,
N. M.

Thompson, George.

Williams, Thomas C.

Wiley, Harry B., Santa Fe,
N. M.

Wisenberg, Roy O., Raton,
N. M.

Zeigler, Daniel J., Como,
Mont.

270 The Rough Riders

DISCHARGED
Brown, Harry R Private Tampa, Fla.

Discharged at Tampa, Fla., Aug. 5, 1898, per S. O. 153 A. G. O.,
dated June 30, 1898, and final statements forwarded to A. G. O.,
Washington, D. C, Aug. 3, 1898.

Young, Howard G. . .Private

Discharge to date from Aug. 23, 1898.

TRANSFERRED
Girard, Alfred O 1st Sergeant

Transferred, July 18, 1898, to ad Army Corps, Camp Alger, per tele-
graphic instructions A. G. O., Washington, D. C.

Cowdin, Elliot C Corporal

Transferred to Troop L ist U. S. Vol. Cav., to date June 7, 1898, per
verbal order Reg. Commander.

Fish, Hamilton, Jr. . .Sergeant

Transferred to Troop L ist U. S. Vol. Cav., June 7, 1898, per verbal
order Reg. Commander. Killed in battle, June 24, 1898.

Wilson, Charles A. . .Private

Transferred to Hosp. Corps ist U. S. Vol. Cav., June 7, 1898, verbal
order Reg. Commander.

Greenway, John C . . . 2d Lieutenant

Promoted ist Lieut. Troop A ist U. S. Vol. Cav.

Bailey, Harry C Private

Transferred back to Troop G, Sept. T, 1898, per verbal order Reg.
Commander.

DIED
Tiffany, William 2d Lieutenant

Died Aug. 26, 1898.

DESERTED
Saville, Michael Private

Deserted from Camp Wikoff, L. L, Aug. 20, 1898.

Brown, John Private

Deserted while en route from Camp Wood, San Antonio, Tex., to camp
at Tampa, Fla., June 3, 1898.

Farrell, Fred. P Private

Deserted while en route from Camp Wood, San Antonio, Tex., to camp
at Tampa, Fla., June 3, 1898.

Muster-Out Roll 271

TROOP K
CAPTAIN WOODBURY KANE

Woodbury Kane, Captain. 3 19 'Fifth Ave, New York City.
Joseph A. Carr, ist Lieut. 2127 R. St., Washington, D. C.
Horace K. Devereux, 2d
Lieutenant Colorado Springs, Col.

Wounded at San Juan, July i, 1898; forearm and arm; Mauser rifle.

Frederik K.Lie,ist Serg't.Orgun P. O., N. M.
Thaddeus Higgins, Serg't.2io W. iO4th St., N. Y. City.
Reginald Ronalds, Serg't.. Knickerbocker Club, N. Y. City.
Sam'l G. Devore, Serg't. ..Wheeling, W. Va.

Wounded at El Poso, July ist; left forearm; shrapnel.

Philip K. Sweet, Sergeant.226 W. I2ist St., N. Y. City.

Wm. J. Breen, Sergeant. .510 E. I44th St., New York City.

CraigW.Wadsworth,Sergt.Geneseo, N. Y.

Henry W. Buel, Serg't. . .319 Fifth Ave., New York City.

James B. Tailor, Corporal.Ardsley on Hudson, N. Y.

Jos. S. Stevens, Corporal.. Narragansett Ave., Newport, R.I.

Maxwell Norman, Corp'l . Newport, R. I.

Edwin Coakley, Corporal . Prescott, Ariz.

Geo. Kerr, Jr., Corporal . . East Downington, Pa.

Henry S. Van Schaick,

Corporal 100 Broadway, New York City.

Fred'k Herrig, Corporal . . Pleasant Valley, Kalispel, Flat

Head Co., Mont.

Oscar Land, Trumpeter. ..720 S. 8th St., Denver, Col.
George W. Knoblauch,

Trumpeter 205 W. 57th St., New York City.

Benj. A. Long, Saddler. ..New York City.

Wounded at El Poso, July ist; left thigh.

Thos. G. Bradley, Farrier. Potomac, Montgomery Co., Md.
George T. Crucius, Black-
smith 50 Amanda St., Montgom'y, Ala.

Lee Burdwell, Wagoner .. Langtry, Tex.

272

The Rough Riders

TROOPERS

Adams, John H., Selma,
Ala.

Wounded, July ist.

Armstrong, James T.
Batchelder, Wallace N.,

"Chester, Pa.
Bell, Sherman, Colorado

Springs, Col.
Bernard, William C, Las

Vegas, N. M.
Bump, Arthur L., New

London, O.

Slightly wounded, July ist.

Cameron, Charles H., Mc-
Donald, Pa.

'Campbell, Douglass.

Cash, Walter S., Colorado
Springs, Col.

Wounded, July ist; arm, slight;
Mauser rifle.

Cooke, Henry B.

Carroll, John F., Hillsboro,
Tex.

Cartmell, Nathaniel M.,
Lexington, Va.

Channing, Roscoe A., 34
Park Place, N. Y. City.

Clagett, Jesse C., Moters Sta-
tion, Frederick Co., Md.

Corbe, Max C., El Paso,
Tex.

Coville, Allen M., Topeka,
Kan.

Crowninshield, Francis B.,
Marblehead, Mass.

Daniels, Benjamin F., Col-
orado Springs, Col.

Davis, John, care W.S.Dick-
inson, Tarpon Sp'gs, Fla.

Easton, Stephen, Santa Fe,
N. M.

Eberman, Edwin.

Emerson, Edwin, Jr., "Col-
lier's Weekly," New York
City.

Flemming, Clarence A.

Fletcher, Henry P., Cham-
bersburg, Franklin Co., Pa.

Folk, Theodore, Oklahoma,
City, O. T.

Freeman, Elisha L., Burden,
Kan.

Holden, Prince A., Gray-
son Co., Tex.

Hulme, Robert A., El Reno,
O. T.

James, William F., San An-
tonio, Tex.

Jordan, Andrew M., Rossa,
Tex.

Kania, Frank, Jamestown,
N. D.

Langdon, Jesse D., Fargo,
N. D.

Marshall, Creighton, 1807
G St., N. W., Washing-
ton, D. C.

Maverick, Lewis, San An-
tonio, Tex.

McGinty, William, Stillwa-
ter, O. T.

McKoy, William J., Osh-
kosh, Wis.

Muster-Out Roll

273

Mitchell, Mason, Lambs'
Club, New York City.

Wounded at El Poso, July ist;
left arm, slight; shrapnel.

Mitchell,William H., Salem,

Mass.
Montgomery, Lawrence N.,

Hempstead, Tex.
Nicholson, Charles P., 1617

John St., Baltimore, Md.
Norris, Edmund S.,Guthrie,

0. T.

Poey, Alfred.
Pollak, Albin J.

Quaid, William, Newburg,

N. Y.
Robinson, Kenneth D., 55

Liberty St., N. Y. City.

Wounded on July ist; right
side, severe; Mauser rifle.

Reed, Colton, San Antonio,
Tex.

Smith, Fred'k, Guthrie,O.T.

Smith, George L., Frank-
fort, Mich.

Smith, Jos. S., 1322 Brown
St., Philadelphia, Pa.

Smith, Clarke T.,2Oo8 Wal-
lace St., Philadelphia, Pa.

Stephens, Oregon, Purdy,

1. T.

Stockton, Richard, 218 W.

Jersey St., Elizabeth, N.J.
Test, Clarence L., Austin,

Tex. ^

Transferred from 3d Penn. Inf.
and reported for duty with
troop at Montauk Point, Aug.
25th

Thorp, Henry, Southamp-
ton, L. I.

Toy, J. Frederick, 602 S.
42d St., Philadelphia, Pa.

Transferred from 3d Penn. Inf.
and reported for duty with
troop at Montauk Point, Aug.
25th.

Tudor, William, 37 Brimer,

St., Boston, Mass.
Venable, Warner M., Ste-

phenville, Tex.
Weitzel, John F., care

Windsor Hotel, Newkirk,

O. T.

Wiberg, Axel E.
Wilson, Frank M., Guthrie,

O. T.
Woodward, John A., Taylor,

Tex.
Wright, Grant, Cold Sp'gs,

N. Y.
Young, James E., 628 W.

37th St., Los Angeles, Cal.

DISCHARGED
Maloon, Winthrop L. Private

Discharged per S. O. No. 141, A. G. O. Dated June 6th.

McMasters, Fred'k D.. Private

Discharged per S. O. No. 178, A. G. O. Dated July 30th, Washing-
ton, D. C.

Ferguson, Robt. M. . .Sergeant. . . . 55 Liberty St., N.Y. City.

Discharged Aug. 10, 1898.

274 The Rough Riders

Worden, John L Private 27 W.43dSt, N.Y.City.

Discharged by way of favor per telegraphic order from Assistant Sec-
retary of War. Dated Aug. isth, Washington, D. C.

Cosby, Arthur F. . . .Private ".

Discharged per S. O. No. 103, A. G. O., Aug., i7th, Washington, D. C.,
to enable the soldier to accept a commission. Wounded, July ist;
right hand.

Lee, Joseph J Private . . . : . Knoxville, Md.

Discharged per S. O. No. 205, A. G. O., Washington, D. C., Aug. 3ist.

Babcock, Campbell E. Private The Plaza, Chicago, 111.

Discharged, Sept. sth, to accept commission.

TRANSFERRED
Duran, Joseph L Private Santa Fe, N. M.

Transferred to Troop H, this regiment, July isth.

Brandon, Perry H . . Private Douglass, Kan.

Transferred to Troop D, this regiment July 29th.
David M. Goodrich. . ist Lieut Akron, O.

Transferred 'from Troop D, this regiment, Aug. nth. Transferred to
Troop D, this regiment, Sept. sth.

DIED
Haywood, Henry .... Sergeant .... Police Dept., N. Y. City.

Abdomen; Mauser rifle; killed, July 2d. Wounded, July ist; died in
Division Hospital, Cuba, July 2, 1898, from bullet wound received
July ist.

Ives, Gerard M Private New York.

Died at his home, 338 W. 7ist St., New York City (date not known),
from typhoid fever.

Tiffany, William. . . . Lieutenant. . New York City.
Died of fever.

DESERTED
Staley, Frank Private -

Deserted from troop at San Antonio, Tex., May ist.

Curzon Private

Deserted from detachment at Tampa, Fla., June i3th.

PROMOTED
Jenkins, Micah J. . . . ^Major Youngs Island, S. C.

Promoted to Major, Aug. n, 1898.

Muster-Out Roll 275

TROOP L

CAPTAIN RICHARD C. DAY
Richard C. Day Captain Vinita, I. T.

Shot through left shoulder on line of duty at San Juan. Left shoul-
der and arm, severe; Mauser rifle.

John R. Thomas ist Lieutenant. . .Muscogee, I. T.

G. S. wound in right lower leg at Las Guasimas, June 24th. G. S.
right leg.

Frank P. Hayes 2d Lieutenant. . . San Antonio, Tex.

Elhanan W. Bucklin. ist Sergeant. . . . Jamestown, N. Y.

JeromeW.HenderliderSergeant Saranac, Mich.

William M. Simms. . .Sergeant Vinita, I. T.

Wounded at San Juan, July i, 1898, in line of duty. Leg; Mauser rifle.

Joe A. Kline Sergeant Vinita, I. T.

Wounded at San Juan, July ist, in line of duty. Leg; Mauser rifle.

Wm. W. Carpenter. . Sergeant Vinita, I. T.

Wounded at San Juan, July ist, in line of duty. Left thigh. Mau-
ser rifle.

James McKay Sergeant Vinita, I. T.

Dillwyn M. Bell Sergeant Guthrie, O. T.

Hurt in back by fragment of shell at El Poso, July ist. Contusion
back, slight; shrapnel.

James E. McGuire. . . Sergeant Chelsea, I. T.

George H. Seaver. . . Corporal Muscogee, I. T.

Wounded at El Poso, July 2, 1898, in line of duty. Right foot, slight;
Mauser rifle.

John W. Davis Corporal Vinita, I. T.

Wounded at San Juan, July i, 1898. Right leg and arm; Mauser rifle.

Samuel G. Davis .... Corporal Sardis, Ark.

Wounded at San Juan, July i, 1898.

Bud Parnell Corporal Muscogee, I. T.

Joseph J. Roger Corporal Tillou, Ark.

Wounded at San Juan, July i, 1898. Abdomen and arm; Mauser rifle.

Geo. B. Dunnigan. . . Corporal Vinita, I. T.

MaynardR. Williams. Corporal Fairland, I. T.

Elliot C. Cowdin .... Corporal New York City.

Mike Kinney Blacksmith Imlay, Mich.

John R. Kean Farrier Maxwell, Ont.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June 24th. G. S. left shoulder and lungs.

276

The Rough Riders

Nicholas H. Cochran. Wagoner Vinita, I. T.

Guy M. Babcock. . . . Saddler Cherryville, Kan.

Thomas F. Meagher . Trumpeter Muscogee, I. T.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June 24th. G. S. left forearm.

Frank R. McDonald. Trumpeter Oolagah, I. T.

Wounded at San Juan, July i, 1898. Head; Mauser rifle.

TROOPERS

Adair, John M., Claremore,

I. T.

Benson, Victor H.
Carey, Oren E., Clonau,

la.
Chilcoot, Frederick, How-

els, Neb.

Hawkins, Chas. D., Vinita,

I. T.
Heagert, Rudolph, Vinita,

I. T.
Holderman, Bert. T., Ar-

topa, Kan.
Hughes, Frank, Vinita, I.T.

Cook, James, Cherokee City, Hughes, William E., Vinita,

Ark.

Cruse, James, St. Joe, Ark.
Culver, Ed., Muscogee, I.T.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June
24th. G. S. breast.

Davis, James C., Wagoner,

I. T.
Damet, John P., Alexander,

S. D.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June
24th. G. S. left shoulder.

Dennis, David C., Nelson,

Mo.
Dobson, William H., Mus-

cogee, I. T.
Ennis, Richard L., Cornell,

111.
Evans, James R., Baldwin,

Ark.
Gilmore, Maurice E., Mus-

cogee, I. T.
Haley, Robert M., Wagon-

er, I. T.

I. T.

Isbell, Thomas J., Vinita,
I. T.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June
25th. G. S. neck, hip, and
thumb.

Jones, Levi, Vinita, I. T.
Johns, William S., Hemas-

ville, Mo.
Kinkade, Elyah S., Musco-

gee, I. T.
Knox, Robert G., Clinton,

La.
Lawrence, Richard, La

Porte, Ind.
Lane, Edward K., Chetopa,

Kan.
Lane, Sanford J., Saupulpa,

I. T.
Lentz, Edward, Bowling

Green, O.
Lewis, Frank A., Newark,

N.J.

Muster-Out Roll

277

Little, Rollie L.,West Fork,
Ark.

McDonald, Asa W., Bear-
ing Cross, Ark.

McCamish, Andrew L.,
Bethel, Kan.

Miller, John S., Garrison,
Neb.

Miller, Boot, Chelsea, I. T.

Moore, John J., Vinita, I.T.

Oskison, Richard L., Vinita,
I. T.

Wounded at San Juan, July ist.
Left leg; Mauser rifle.

Owens, Edward L., Vinita,

I. T.
Parker, Ora E., Dickins,

la.

Wounded near Santiago de Cuba,
July i, 2, or 3, 1898. Right
thigh, severe; shrapnel.

Philpot, Leigh T., Bryson,

Ky.
Poe, Nathaniel M., Adair,

I. T.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June
24th. G. S. foot.

Price, Benjamin W., Eu-
faula, I. T.

Pulley, William O., Marion,
111.

Rich, Allen K., Fort Gib-
son, I. T.

Robertson, Geo. W., Mus-
cogee, I. T.

Robinson, Frank P., Bor-
bora, Kan.

Russell, Daniel, Goodland,

I. T.
Scobey, Arthur E., Willis

Point, Tex.

Wounded at San Juan Hill, June
i, 1898. Right hand; Mauser
rifle.

Sharp, Walter L., Chicago,

111.
Skelton, James W., Trinity

Mills, Tex.

Smith, Bert., Vinita, I. T.
Smith, Sylvester S., Vinita,

I.T.
Stef ens, Luke B., Rio Vista,

I. T.
Stidham, Theodore E., Eu-

faula, I. T.
Swearinger, George, Mays-

ville, Mo.
Taylor, Warren P., Hills-

boro, Tex.
Thompson, Sylvester V.

Wounded at San Juan, July i,
1898. Left leg and arm; Mau-
ser rifle.

Wetmore, Robert C, Mont-

clair, N. J.
Whitney, SchuylerC., Pryor

Creek, I. T.

Wounded at Las Guasimas, June
24th. G. S. neck.

Wilkins, Geo.W., VinitaJ.T.
Wilson, James E., Madrid,

Mo.
Winn, Arthur N., Musco-

gee, I. T.

DISCHARGED

Hutchinson, Chas. A. Private

Price, Walter W. . . . Private. .

278 The Rough Riders

Hayes, Frank P ist Sergeant

Discharged, June 24, 1898, to enable him to accept commission as 26.
Lieut, in ist U. S. Vol. Cav.

TRANSFERRED
Robert, William J . . . Private

Transferred to Troop M, June 7, 1898, by order Col. Wood.

Byrne, John Sergeant Vinita, I. T.

Transferred to Troop F, July 10, 1898, by order Col. Wood.

DIED
Capron, Allyn K 'Captain Fort Sill, Okla.

Killed at battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898. G. S. lungs.
Fish, Hamilton Sergeant New York City.

Killed at battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898. G. S. heart.
Dawson, Tilden W. . Private Vinita, I. T.

Killed at battle of Las Guasimas, June 24, 1898. G. S. head.

Santo, William T Private Chouteau, I. T.

Killed at battle of San Juan, July i, 1898. Mauser rifle.

Hendricks, Milo A. . .Private Muscogee, I. T.

Mortally wounded at battle of San Juan, July ist; died in hospital,
July 6, 1898. Mauser rifle.

Enyart, Silas R Private Sapulpa, I. T.

Mortally wounded at San Juan, July ist; died in hospital, July 6, 1898.

TROOP M
CAPTAIN ROBERT H. BRUCE

Robert H. Bruce. . . . Captain. Mineola, Tex.

Ode C. Nichols ist Lieutenant. . .Durant, I. T.

Albert S. Johnson. . . 2d Lieutenant. . . OklahomaCity,O.T

Harry E. Berner. ... ist Sergeant Durant, I. T.

Joseph L. Smith Q--M. Sergeant. .Caddo, I. T.

William E. Lloyd Sergeant Durant, I. T.

Fred'k E. Nichols. . . Sergeant Purcell, I. T.

Morency A. Hawkins Sergeant Tioga, Tex.

Wilbert L. Poole. . . . Sergeant Durant, I. T.

Otis B. Weaver Sergeant Mt. Vernon, Tex.

Henry C. Foley Sergeant Muscogee, I. T.

Muster-Out Roll

279

Samuel Downing. . .
Charles S. Lynch. . .
John N. Jackson. . . .
Frank U. Talman. . .
Hiram S. Creech....
Charles J. Fandru. . .
Theodore E. Schulz.
William G. Jones. . .

Frank Marion

Charles J. Hokey. . .

John McMullen

John Hall

Cragg Parsons

Luther M. Kiethly. .
Samuel Young

.Corporal Atoka, I. T.

.Corporal Caddo, I. T.

.Corporal Caddo, I. T.

.Corporal S. McAlester, I. T.

Corporal Durant, I. T.

Corporal Caddo, I. T.

.Corporal Tampa, Fla.

.Corporal Ardmore, I. T.

.Trumpeter Muscogee, I. T.

.Trumpeter Krebs, I. T.

Wagoner Ardmore, I. T.

.Farrier Durant, I. T.

Blacksmith Ardmore, I. T.

. Saddler Hartshorne, I. T.

Chief Cook Caddo, I. T.

TROOPERS

Allaun, Jacob, Sapulpa,LT.

Byrd, Samuel J. W., Mus-
cogee, I. T.

Boydstun, John F., Caddo,
I. T.

Barlow, John W., Caddo,
I. T.

Barrington, John P., Ard-
more, I. T.

Baird, Thompson M.,
Thurber, Tex.

Brierty, Thomas, Tampa,
Fla.

Butler, Peter L., Kiowa,
I. T.

Beal,AndyR., Durant, I. T.

Bruce, Peter R., Wagoner,
I. T.

Brown, Leon, Ardmore, I.T.

Barney, Leland, Ardmore,
I. T.

Burks, Jesse S., Ardmore,
I. T.

Case, George, Durant, I. T.

Calhoun, Wesley, Durant,
I. T.

£arter, Arthur E., Ard-
more, I. T.

Garden, Horace W., Ard-
more, I. T.

Cox, Walter, Durant, I. T.

Cooper, Bud G., Muscogee,
I. T.

Dorell, Chas., Vinita, I. T.

Duping, Joseph, Muscogee,
I. T.

Flying, Crawford D., Mus-
cogee, I. T.

Fairman, Chas. E., Ard-
more, I. T.

Griffith, Ezra E., Sapulpa,
I.T.

•280

The Rough Riders

Garland, George W., Ard-
more, I. T.

Hall, James T., Wagoner,
I. T.

Hawes, Frederick W., Den-
nison, Tex.

Houchin, Willis C, Durant,
I. T.

Hamilton, Troy, Harts-
horne, I. T.

Howell, William, Musco-
gee, I. T.

Harris, Chester, Muscogee,
I. T.

Hoffman, Geo. B., Somer-
ville, N. J.

Johnson, Bankston, Caddo,
I. T.

Johnson, Charles L., Ard-
more, I. T.

Johnson, Gordon, Birming-
ham, Ala.

Jones, Charles L., McAles-
ter, I. T.

Keithly/ Ora E., Hartshorne,
I. T.

Kings, John, McAlester,
I. T.

Kearns, Edward L., Tampa,
Fla.

Mitchell, William, Wagon-
er, I. T.

Madden, Chas. E., Brooken,
I. T.

Murphy, William S., Cad-
do, I. T.

McPherren, Chas. E., Cad-
do, I. T.

Maytubby, Bud, Caddo, I.T.

McDaniel, Thos. E., Mus-
cogee, I. T.

McPherson, Chas. E., Cad-
do, I. T.

Morrell, Robert W., Eliza-
beth, N. J.

Owens, John M., Oologah,
I. T.

Pipkins, Virgil A., Brook-
en, I. T.

Rouse, John L., Durant, I. T.

Rose, Lewis W., Los An-
geles, Cal.

Russell, Walter L., Caddo,
I. T.

Rynerson, Benj. A., Du-
rant, I. T.

Reynolds, Benj. F., Ard-
more, I. T.

Ross, William E., Ardmore,
I. T.

Roberts, William J., Vinita,
I. T.

Sloane, Samuel P., So. Mc-
Alester, I. T.

Sykes, Marion, Muscogee,
I. T.

Stewart, Henry J., Caddo,
I. T.

Thomas, Jesse C., Caddo, I.T.

Tyler, Edwin, Ardmore, I.T.

Vickers, John W., So. Mc-
Alester, I. T.

Williams, Benjamin H., So.
McAlester, I. T.

Williams, George W., Ard-
more, I. T.

Wolfe, John W., Ardmore,
I. T.

Muster-Out Roll 281

Webster, David, Durant, Woog, Benjamin, B.,Wash-

I. T. ington, D. C.

Wagner, John D., Caddo, de Zychlinski, William T.,

I. T. Bismarck, N. D.

TRANSFERRED
Lane, Sanford G Trooper Sapulpa, I. T.

Transferred to Troop L ist U. S. V. C., June 8, 1898, per verbal order
Reg. Cora.

DIED OF DISEASE
Kyle, Yancy Trooper McAlester, I. T.

Died of typhoid fever at Tampa, July 15, 1898. Final statements ren-
dered and settled per Capt. Bruce.

As said above, this is not a complete list of the
wounded, or even of the dead, among the troopers.
Moreover a number of officers and men died from
fever soon after the regiment was mustered out.
Twenty-eight field and line officers landed in Cuba
on June 22d; ten of them were killed or wounded
during the nine days following. Of the five regi-
ments of regular cavalry in the division one, the
Tenth, lost eleven officers; none of the others lost
more than six. The loss of the Rough Riders in
enlisted men was heavier than that of any other
regiment in the cavalry division. Of the nine in-
fantry regiments in Kent's division, one, the Sixth,
lost eleven officers; none of the others as many as
we did. None of the nine suffered as heavy a loss
in enlisted men, as they were not engaged at Las
Guasimas.

No other regiment in the Spanish-American War
suffered as heavy a loss as the First United States
Volunteer Cavalry.

282 The Rough Riders

APPENDIX B

[BEFORE it was sent, this letter was read to and
approved by every officer of the regiment who had
served through the Santiago campaign.]

[Copy.]

CAMP WIKOFF,
September 10, 1898
To THE SECRETARY OF WAR.

SIR: In answer to the circular issued by com-
mand of Major-General Shafter under date of Sep-
tember 8, 1898, containing a request for informa-
tion by the Adjutant-General of September 7th, I
have the' honor to report as follows :

I am a little in doubt whether the fact that on
certain occasions my regiment suffered for food,
etc., should be put down to an actual shortage of sup-
plies or to general defects in the system of adminis-
tration. Thus, when the regiment arrived in Tam-
pa, after a four days' journey by cars from its camp
at San Antonio, it received no food whatever for
twenty-four hours, and as the travel rations had
been completely exhausted, food for several of the
troops was purchased by their officers, who, of
course, have not been reimbursed by the Govern-
ment. In the same way we were short one or two
meals at the time of embarking at Port Tampa on
the transport; but this I think was due, not to a

Appendix B 283

failure in the quantity of supplies, but to the lack
of system in embarkation.

As with the other regiments, no information was
given in advance what transports we should take,
or how we should proceed to get aboard, nor did
any one exercise any supervision over the embarka-
tion. Each regimental commander, so far as I
know, was left to find out as best he could, after
he was down at the dock, what transport had not
been taken, and then to get his regiment aboard it,
if he was able, before some other regiment got it.
Our regiment was told to go to a certain switch,
and take a train for Port Tampa at twelve o'clock,
midnight. The train never came. After three
hours of waiting we were sent to another switch,
and finally at six o'clock in the morning got pos-
session of some coal-cars and came down in them.
When we reached the quay where the embarkation
was proceeding, everything was in utter confusion.
The quay was piled with stores and swarming with
thousands of men of different regiments, besides
onlookers, etc. The commanding general, when we
at last found him, told Colonel Wood and myself
that he did not know what ship we were to embark
on, and that we must find Colonel Humphrey, the
Quartermaster-General. Colonel Humphrey was
not in his office, and nobody knew where he was.
The commanders of the different regiments were
busy trying to find him, while their troops waited in
the trains, so as to discover the ships to which they

284 The Rough Riders

were allotted — some of these ships being at the dock
and some in mid-stream. After a couple of hours'
search, Colonel Wood found Colonel Humphrey
and was allotted a ship. Immediately afterward I
found that it had already been allotted to two other
regiments. It was then coming to the dock. Col-
onel Wood boarded it in mid-stream to keep posses-
sion, while I double-quicked the men down from the
cars and got there just ahead of the other two regi-
ments. One of these regiments, I was afterward in-
formed, spent the next thirty-six hours in cars in
consequence. We suffered nothing beyond the loss
of a couple of meals, which, it seems to me, can
hardly be put down to any failure in the quantity
of supplies furnished to the troops.

We were two weeks on the troop-ship Yucatan,
and as we were given twelve days' travel rations,
we of course fell short toward the end of the trip,
but eked things out with some of our field rations
and troop stuff. The quality of the travel rations
given to us was good, except in the important item
of meat. The canned roast beef is worse than a
failure as part of the rations, for in effect it amounts
to reducing the rations by just so much, as a great
majority of the men find it uneatable. It was coarse,
stringy, tasteless, and very disagreeable in appear-
ance, and so unpalatable that the effort to eat it
made some of the men sick. Most of the men pre-
ferred to be hungry rather than eat it. If cooked in
a stew with plenty of onions and potatoes — i.e., if

Appendix B 285

only one ingredient in a dish with other more sa-
vory ingredients — it could be eaten, especially if
well salted and peppered; but, as usual (what I
regard as a great mistake), no salt was issued with
the travel rations, and of course no potatoes and
onions.

There were no cooking facilities on the trans-
port. When the men obtained any, it was by
bribing the cook. Toward the last, when they be-
gan to draw on the field rations, they had to eat
the bacon raw. On the return trip the same diffi-
culty in rations obtained — i.e., the rations were short
because the men could not eat the canned roast beef,
and had no salt. We purchased of the ship's sup-
plies some flour and pork and a little rice for the
men, so as to relieve the shortage as much as pos-
sible, and individual sick men were helped from
private sources by officers, who themselves ate what
they had purchased in Santiago. As nine-tenths
of the men were more or less sick, the unattractive-
ness of the travel rations was doubly unfortunate.
It would have been an excellent thing for their
health if we could have had onions and potatoes,
and means for cooking them. Moreover, the water
was very bad, and sometimes a cask was struck
that was positively undrinkable. The lack of ice
for the weak and sickly men was very much felt.
Fortunately there was no epidemic, for there was
not a place on the ship where patients could have
been isolated.

286 The Rough Riders

During the month following the landing of the
army in Cuba the food supplies were generally
short in quantity, and in quality were never such
as were best suited to men undergoing severe hard-
ships and great exposure in an unhealthy tropical
climate. The rations were, I understand, the same
as those used in the Klondike. In this connection,
I call especial attention to the report of Captain
Brown, made by my orders when I was Btigade-
Commander, and herewith appended. I also call
attention to the report of my own Quartermaster.
Usually we received full rations of bacon and hard-
tack. The hardtack, however, was often mouldy,
•so that parts of cases, and even whole cases, could
not be used. The bacon was usually good. But
bacon and hardtack make poor food for men toiling
and fighting in trenches under the mid-summer sun
of the tropics. The ration of coffee was often short,
and that of sugar generally so; we rarely got any
vegetables. Under these circumstances the men
lost strength steadily, and as the fever speedily at-
tacked them, they suffered from being reduced to
a bacon and hardtack diet. So much did the shortage
of proper food tell upon their health that again and
again officers were compelled to draw upon their
private purses, or upon the Red Cross Society, to
make good the deficiency of the Government sup-
ply. Again and again we sent down improvised
pack-trains composed of officers' horses, of captured
Spanish cavalry ponies, or of mules which had been

Appendix B 287

shot or abandoned but were cured by our men.
These expeditions — sometimes under the chaplain,
sometimes under the Quartermaster, sometimes
under myself, and occasionally under a trooper-
would go to the sea-coast or to the Red Cross
headquarters, or, after the surrender, into the city
of Santiago, to get food both for the well and the
sick.

The Red Cross Society rendered invaluable
aid. For example, on one of these expeditions I
personally brought up 600 pounds of beans; on
another occasion I personally brought up 500
pounds of rice, 800 pounds of cornmeal, 200 pounds
of sugar, loo pounds of tea, 100 pounds of oatmeal,
5 barrels of potatoes, and two of onions, with cases
of canned soup and condensed milk for the sick in
hospitals. Every scrap of the food thus brought
up was eaten with avidity by the soldiers, and put
new heart and strength into them. It was only
our constant care of the men in this way that en-
abled us to keep them in any trim at all. As for
the sick in the hospital, unless we were able from
outside sources to get them such simple delicacies
as rice and condensed milk, they usually had the
alternative of eating salt pork and hardtack or going
without.

After each fight we got a good deal of food
from the Spanish camps in the way of beans, peas,
and rice, together with green coffee, all of which
the men used and relished greatly. In some re-

288 The Rough Riders

spects the Spanish rations were preferable to ours,
notably in the use of rice. After we had been ashore
a month the supplies began to come in in abundance,
and we then fared very well. Up to that time the
men were under-fedx during the very weeks when
the heaviest drain was being made upon their vi-
tality, and the deficiency was only partially supplied
through the aid of the Red Cross, and out of the
officers' pockets and the pockets of various New
York friends who sent us money. Before, during,
and immediately after the fights of June 24th and
July ist, we were very short of even the bacon and
hardtack. About July I4th, when the heavy rains
interrupted communication, we were threatened
with famine, as we were informed that there was
not a day's supply of provisions in advance nearer
than the sea-coast; and another twenty-four hours'
rain would have resulted in a complete breakdown
of communications, so that for several days we
should have been reduced to a diet of mule-meat
and mangos. At this, time, in anticipation of such
a contingency, by foraging and hoarding we got a
little ahead, so that when our supplies were cut
'down for a day or two we did not suffer much,
and were even able to furnish a little aid to the
less fortunate First Illinois Regiment, which was
camped next to us. Members of the Illinois Regi-
ment were offering our men $i apiece for hard-
tacks.

I wish to bear testimony to the energy and ca-

Appendix B 289

pacity of Colonel Weston, the Commissary-General
with the expedition. If it had not been for his
active aid, we should have fared worse than
we did. All that he could do for us, he most cheer-
fully did.

As regards the clothing, I have to say: As to
the first issue, the blue shirts were excellent of
their kind, but altogether too hot for Cuba. They
are just what I used to wear in Montana. The
leggings were good; the shoes were very good;
the undershirts not very good, and the drawers bad
— being of heavy, thick canton flannel, difficult to
wash, and entirely unfit for a tropical climate. The
trousers were poor, wearing badly. We did not get
any other clothing until we were just about to
leave Cuba, by which time most of the men were in
tatters ; some being actually barefooted, while others
were in rags, or dressed partly in clothes captured
from the Spaniards, who were much more suitably
clothed for the climate and place than we were.
The ponchos were poor, being inferior to the Span-
ish rain-coats which we captured.

As to the medical matters, I invite your atten-
tion, not only to the report of Dr. Church accom-
panying this letter, but to the letters of Captain
Llewellen, Captain Day, and Lieutenant Mcllhenny.
I could readily produce a hundred letters on the
lines of the last three. In actual medical supplies,
we had plenty of quinine and cathartics. We were
apt to be short on other medicines, and we had noth-
VOL. XL— M

290 The Rough Riders

ing whatever in the way of proper nourishing food
for our sick and wounded men during most of the
time, except what we were able to get from the
Red Cross or purchase with our own money. We had
no hospital tent at all until I was able to get a couple
of tarpaulins. During much of the time my own
fly was used for the purpose. We had no cots until
by individual effort we obtained a few, only three
or four days before we left Cuba. During most
of the time the sick men lay on the muddy ground
in blankets, if they had any; if not, they lay with-
out them until some of the well men cut their own
blankets in half. Our regimental surgeon very
soon left us, and Dr. Church, who was repeatedly
taken down with fever, was left alone — save as he
was helped by men detailed from among the troop-
ers. Both he and the men thus detailed, together
with the regular hospital attendants, did work of
incalculable service. We had no ambulance with
the regiment. On the battlefield our wounded were
generally sent to the rear in mule-wagons, or on
litters which were improvised. At other times we
would hire the little springless Cuban carts. But
of course the wounded suffered greatly in such con-
veyances, and moreover, often we could not get a
wheeled vehicle of any kind to transport even the
most serious cases. On the day of the big fight,
July ist, as far as we could find out, there were but
two ambulances with the army in condition to work
— neither of which did we ever see. Later there

Appendix B 291

were, as we were informed, thirteen all told; and
occasionally after the surrender, by vigorous rep-
resentations and requests, we would get one as-
signed to take some peculiarly bad cases to the hos-
pital. Ordinarily, however, we had to do with one
of the makeshifts enumerated above. On several
occasions I visited the big hospitals in the rear.
Their condition was frightful beyond description
from lack of supplies, lack of medicine, lack of doc-
tors, nurses, and attendants, and especially from
lack of transportation. The wounded and sick who
were sent back suffered so much that, whenever
possible, they returned to the front. Finally my
brigade commander, General Wood, ordered, with
my hearty acquiescence, that only in the direst need
should any men be sent to the rear — no matter what
our hospital accommodations at the front might be.
The men themselves preferred to suffer almost any-
thing lying alone in their little shelter-tents, rather
than go back to the hospitals in the rear. I invite
attention to the accompanying letter of Captain
Llewellen in relation to the dreadful condition of
the wounded on some of the transports taking them
North.

The greatest trouble we had was with the lack
of transportation. Under the order issued by di-
rection of General Miles through the Adjutant-
General on or about May 8th, a regiment serving
as infantry in the field was entitled to twenty-five
wagons. We often had one, often none, sometimes

292 The Rough Riders

two, and never as many as three. We had a regi-
mental pack-train, but it was left behind at Tampa.
During most of the time our means of transporta-
tion were chiefly the improvised pack-trains spoken
of above ; but as the mules got well they were taken
away from us, and so were the captured Spanish
cavalry horses. Whenever we shifted camp, we had
to leave most of our things behind, so that the night
before each fight was marked by our sleeping with-
out tentage and with very little food, so far as offi-
cers were concerned, as everything had to be sacri-
ficed to getting up what ammunition and medical
supplies we had. Colonel Wood seized some mules,
and in this manner got up the medical supplies be-
fore the fight of June 24th, when for three days
the officers had nothing but what they wore. There
was a repetition of this, only in worse form, before
and after the fight of July ist. Of course much
of this was simply a natural incident of war, but a
great deal could readily have been avoided if we had
had enough transportation; and I was sorry not to
let my men be as comfortable as possible and rest
as much as possible just before going into a fight
when, as on July ist and 2d, they might have to be
forty-eight hours with the minimum quantity of food
and sleep.

The fever began to make heavy ravages among
our men just before the surrender, and from that
time on it became a most serious matter to shift
camp, with sick and ailing soldiers, hardly able to

Appendix B 293

walk — not to speak of carrying heavy burdens—
when we had no transportation. Not more than
half of the men could carry their rolls, and yet
these, with the officers' baggage and provisions, the
entire hospital and its appurtenances, etc., had to be
transported somehow. It was usually about three
days after we reached a new camp before the neces-
saries which had been left behind could be brought
up, and during these three days we had to get along
as best we could. The entire lack of transportation
at first resulted in leaving most of the troop mess-
kits on the beach, and we were never able to get
them. The men cooked in the few utensils they
could themselves carry. This rendered it impossi-
ble to boil the drinking water. Closely allied to the
lack of transportation was the lack of means to
land supplies from the transports.

In my opinion, the deficiency in transportation
was the worst evil with which we had to contend,
serious though some of the others were. I have
never served before, so have no means of comparing
this with previous campaigns. I was often told
by officers who had seen service against the Indians
that, relatively to the size of the army, and the char-
acter of the country, we had only a small fraction
of the transportation always used in the Indian cam-
paigns. As far as my regiment was concerned, we
certainly did not have one-third of the amount ab-
solutely necessary, if it was to be kept in fair con-
dition, and we had to partially make good the de-

294 The Rough Riders

ficiency by the most energetic resort to all kinds
of makeshifts and expedients.

Yours respectfully,
(Signed) THEODORE ROOSEVELT,

Colonel First United States Cavalry.

Forwarded through military channels.
(5 enclosures.)

First Endorsement.

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH ARMY CORPS.
CAMP WIKOFF, September 18, 1808.

Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant-General
of the Army.

(Signed) WILLIAM R. SHAFTER,

Major-General Commanding.

Appendix C 295

APPENDIX C

[THE following is the report of the Associated
Press correspondent of the "round-robin" incident.
It is literally true in every detail. I was present
when he was handed both letters; he was present
while they were being written.]

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, August 3d (delayed in trans-
mission).— Summoned by Major-General Shafter,
a meeting was held here this morning at head-
quarters, and in the presence of every commanding
and medical officer of the Fifth Army Corps, Gen-
eral Shafter read a cable message from Secretary
Alger, ordering him, on the recommendation of
Surgeon-General Sternberg, to move the army into
the interior, to San Luis, where it is healthier.

As a result of the conference General Shafter will
insist upon the immediate withdrawal of the army
North.

As an explanation of the situation the following
letter from Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, command-
ing the First Cavalry, to General Shafter, was
handed by the latter to the correspondent of the
Associated Press for publication :

MAJOR-GENERAL SHAFTER,

SIR: In a meeting of the general and medical
officers called by you at the Palace this morning
we were all, as you know, unanimous in our views

296 The Rough Riders

of what should be done with the army. To keep
us here, in the opinion of every officer commanding
a division or a brigade, will simply involve the de-
struction of thousands. There is no possible rea-
son for not shipping practically the entire command
North at once.

Yellow-fever cases are very few in the cavalry
division, where I command one of the two brigades,
and not one true case of yellow fever has occurred
in this division, except among the men sent to the
hospital at Siboney, where they have, I believe,
contracted it.

But in this division there have been 1,500 cases
of malarial fever. Hardly a man has yet died from
it, but the whole command is so weakened and shat-
tered as to be ripe for dying like rotten sheep, when
a real yellow-fever epidemic instead of a fake epi-
demic, like the present one, strikes us, as it is bound
to do if we stay here at the height of the sickness
season, August and the beginning of September.
Quarantine against malarial fever is much like
quarantining against the toothache.

All of us are certain that as soon as the authori-
ties at Washington fully appreciate the condition
of the army, we shall be sent home. If we are
kept here it will in all human possibility mean an
appalling disaster, for the surgeons here estimate
that over half the army, if kept here during the
sickly season, will die.

This is not only terrible from the standpoint of
the individual lives lost, but it means ruin from the
standpoint of military efficiency of the flower of the

Appendix C 297

American army, for the great bulk of the regulars
are here with you. The sick list, large though it
is, exceeding four thousand, affords but a faint in-
dex of the debilitation of the army. Not twenty
per cent are fit for active work.

Six weeks on the North Maine coast, for instance,
or elsewhere where the yellow-fever germs can not
possibly propagate, would make us all as fit as
fighting-cocks, as able as we are eager to take a
leading part in the great campaign against Havana
in the fall, even if we are not allowed to try Porto
Rico.

We can be moved North, if moved at once, with
absolute safety to the country, although, of course,
it would have been infinitely better if we had been
moved North or to Porto Rico two weeks ago.
If there were any object in keeping us here, we
would face yellow fever with as much indifference
as we faced bullets. But there is no object.

The four immune regiments ordered here are
sufficient to garrison the city and surrounding
towns, and there is absolutely nothing for us to
do here, and there has not been since the city sur-
rendered. It is impossible to move into the interior.
Every shifting of camp doubles the sick-rate in
our present weakened condition, and, anyhow, the
interior is rather worse than the coast, as I have
found by actual reconnoissance. Our present
camps are as healthy as any camps at this end of
the island can be.

I write only because I can not see our men, who
have fought so bravely and who have endured ex-

298 The Rough Riders

treme hardship and danger so uncomplainingly, go
to destruction without striving so far as lies in me
to avert a doom as fearful as it is unnecessary and
undeserved. Yours respectfully,

THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
Colonel Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade.

After Colonel Roosevelt had taken the initiative,
all the American general officers united in a "round
robin" address to General Shaft er. It reads:

We, the undersigned officers commanding the
various brigades, divisions, etc., of the Army of
Occupation in Cuba, are of the unanimous opinion
that this army should be at once taken out of the
island of Cuba and sent to some point on the north-
ern sea-coast of the United States; that can be
done without danger to the people of the United
States; that yellow fever in the army at present is
not epidemic; that there are only a few sporadic
cases; but that the army is disabled by malarial
fever to the extent that its efficiency is destroyed,
and that it is in a condition to be practically entirely
destroyed by an epidemic of yellow fever, which is
sure to come in the near future.

We know from the reports of competent officers
and from personal observations that the army is
unable to move into the interior, and that there are
no facilities for such a move if attempted, and that
it could not be attempted until too late. Moreover,
the best medical authorities of the island say that
with our present equipment we could not live in
the interior during the rainy season without losses

Appendix C 299

from malarial fever which is almost as deadly as
yellow fever.

This army must be moved at once, or perish.
As the army can be safely moved now, the persons
responsible for preventing such a move will be re-
sponsible for the unnecessary loss of many thou-
sands of lives.

Our opinions are the result of careful personal
observation, and they are also based on the unani-
mous opinion of our medical officers with the army,
who understand the situation absolutely.

J. FORD KENT,

Major-General Volunteers Commanding First Di-
vision, Fifth Corps.

J. C. BATES,

Major-General Volunteers Commanding Provisional
Division.

ADNA R. CHAFFEE,

Major-General Commanding Third Brigade, Second
Division.

SAMUEL S. SUMNER,

Brigadier - General Volunteers Commanding First
Brigade, Cavalry.

WILL LUDLOW,

Brigadier - General Volunteers Commanding First
Brigade, Second Division.

ADELBERT AMES,

Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding Third
Brigade, First Division.

LEONARD WOOD,

Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding the City
of Santiago.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
Colonel Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade.

300 The Rough Riders

Major M. W. Wood, the chief surgeon of the
First Division, said: "The army must be moved
North/' adding, with emphasis, "or it will be un-
able to move itself."

General Ames has sent the following cable mes-
sage to Washington :

CHARLES H. ALLEN, Assistant Secretary of the

Navy:

This army is incapable, because of sickness, of
marching anywhere except to the transports. If
it is ever to return to the United States it must do
so a once.

Appendix D 301

APPENDIX D

CORRECTIONS

IT has been suggested to me that when Bucky
O'Neill spoke of the vultures tearing our dead, he
was thinking of no modern poet, but of the words
of the prophet Ezekiel : "Speak unto every feathered
fowl ... ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty and
drink the blood of the princes of the earth."

At San Juan the Sixth Cavalry was under Major
Lebo, a tried and gallant officer. I learn from a
letter of Lieutenant McNamee that it was he, and
not Lieutenant Hartwick, by whose orders the
troopers of the Ninth cast down the fence to en-
able me to ride my horse into the lane. But one
of the two lieutenants of B Troop was overcome by
the heat that day; Lieutenant Rynning was with
his troop until dark.

One night during the siege, when we were dig-
ging trenches, a curious stampede occurred (not in
my own regiment) which it may be necessary some
time to relate.

Lieutenants W. E. Shipp and W. H. Smith were
killed, not far from each other, while gallantly lead-
ing their troops on the slope of Kettle Hill. Each
left a widow and young children.

302 The Rough Riders

Captain (now Colonel) A. L. Mills, the Brigade
Adjutant-General, has written me some comments
on my account of the fight on July ist. It was he
himself who first brought me word to advance. I
then met Colonel Dorst — who bore the same mes-
sage— as I was getting the regiment forward.
Captain Mills was one of the officers I had sent
back to get orders that would permit me to ad-
vance; he met General Sumner, who gave him the
orders, and he then returned to me. In a letter
to me Colonel Mills says in part :

I reached the head of the regiment as you came
out of the lane and gave you the orders to enter
the action. These were that you were to move,
with your right resting along the wire fence of the
lane, to the support of the regular cavalry then at-
tacking the hill we were facing. "The red-roofed
house yonder is your objective," I said to you. You
moved out at once and quickly forged to the front
of your regiment. I rode in rear, keeping the sol-
diers and troops closed and in line as well as the
circumstances and conditions permitted. We had
covered, I judge, from one-half to two-thirds the
distance to Kettle Hill when Lieutenant-Colonel
Garlington, from our left flank, called to me that
troops were needed in the meadow across the lane.
I put one troop (not three, as stated in your ac-
count*) across the lane and went with it. Ad-
vancing with the troop, I began immediately to

* The other two must have followed on their own initiative.

Appendix D 3°3

pick up troopers of the Ninth Cavalry who had
drifted from their commands, and soon had so
many they demanded nearly all my attention. With
a line thus made up, the colored troopers on the
left and yours oa the right, the portion of Kettle
Hill on the right of the red-roofed house was first
carried. I very shortly thereafter had a strong
firing-line established on the crest nearest the en-
emy, from the corner of the fence around the house
to the low ground on the right of the hill, which
fired into the strong line of conical straw hats,
whose brims showed just above the edge of the
Spanish trench directly west of that part of the
hill.* These hats made a fine target! I had placed
a young officer of your regiment in charge of the
portion of the line on top of the hill, and was about
to go to the left to keep the connection of the bri-
gade— Captain McBlain, Ninth Cavalry, just then
came up on the hill from the left and rear — when
the shot struck that put me out of the fight.

There were many wholly erroneous accounts of
the Guasimas fight published at the time, for the
most part written by newspaper-men who were in
the rear and utterly ignorant of what really oc-
curred. Most of these accounts possess a value so
purely ephemeral as to need no notice. Mr. Stephen
Bonsai, however, in his book, "The Fight for San-

* These were the Spaniards in the trenches we carried
when we charged from Kettle Hill, after the infantry had
taken the San Juan block-house.

304 The Rough Riders

tiago," has cast one of them in a more permanent
form; and I shall discuss one or two of his state-
ments.

Mr. Bonsai was not present at the fight, and, in-
deed, so far as I know, he never at any time was
with the cavalry in action. He puts in his book a
map of the supposed skirmish ground; but it bears
to the actual scene of the fight only the well-known
likeness borne by Monmouth to Macedon. There
was a brook on the battleground, and there is a
brook in Mr. Bonsai's map. The real brook, flow-
ing down from the mountains, crossed the valley
road and ran down between it and the hill-trail,
going nowhere near the latter. TTie Bonsai brook
flows at right angles to the course of the real brook
and crosses both trails — that is, it runs up hill. It
is difficult to believe that the Bonsai map could
have been made by any man who had gone over the
hill-trail followed by the Rough Riders and who
knew where the fighting had taken place. The po-
sition of the Spanish line on the Bonsai map is
inverted compared to what it really was.

On page 90 Mr. Bonsai says that in making the
"precipitate advance" there was a rivalry between
the regulars and Rough Riders, which resulted in
each hurrying recklessly forward to strike the
Spaniards first. On the contrary, the official reports
show that General Young's column waited for some
time after it got to the Spanish position, so as to
allow the Rough Riders (who had the more difficult

Appendix D 305

trail) to come up. Colonel Wood kept his column
walking at a smart pace, merely so that the regulars
might not be left unsupported when the fight be-
gan; and as a matter of fact, it began almost
simultaneously on both wings.

On page 91 Mr. Bonsai speaks of "The foolhardy
formation of a solid column along a narrow trail,
which brought them (the Rough Riders) . . .
within point-blank range of the Spanish rifles and
within the unobstructed sweep of their machine-
guns." He also speaks as if the advance should
have been made with the regiment deployed through
the jungle. Of course, the only possible way by
which the Rough Riders could have been brought
into action in time to support the regulars was by
advancing in column along the trail at a good smart
gait. As soon as our advance-guard came into con-
tact with the enemy's outpost we deployed. No
firing began for at least five minutes after Captain
Capron sent back word that he had come upon the
Spanish outpost. At the particular point where this
occurred there was a dip in the road, which prob-
ably rendered it, in Capron's opinion, better to keep
part of his men in it. In any event, Captain Cap-
ron, who was as skilful as he was gallant, had ample
time between discovering the Spanish outpost and
the outbreak of the firing to arrange his troop in
the formation he deemed best. His troop was not
in solid formation; his men were about ten yards
apart. Of course, to have walked forward deployed

306 The Rough Riders

through the jungle, prior to reaching the ground
where we were to fight, would have been a course
of procedure so foolish as to warrant the summary
court-martial of any man directing it. We could
not have made half a mile an hour in such a forma-
tion, and would have been at least four hours too
late for the fighting.

On page 92 Mr. Bonsai says that Captain Cap-
ron's troop was ambushed, and that it received the
enemy's fire a quarter of an hour before it was ex-
pected. This is simply not so. Before the column
stopped we had passed a dead Cuban, killed in the
preceding day's skirmish, and General Wood had
notified me on information he had received from
Capron that we might come into contact with the
Spaniards at any moment, and, as I have already
said, Captain Capron discovered the Spanish out-
post, and we halted and partially deployed the col-
umn before the firing began. We were at the time
exactly where we had expected to come across the
Spaniards. Mr. Bonsai, after speaking of L Troop,
adds : "The remaining troops of the regiment had
traveled more leisurely, and more than half an hour
elapsed before they came up to Capron's support."
As a matter of fact, all the troops traveled at ex-
actly the same rate of speed, although there were
stragglers from each, and when Capron halted and
sent back word that he had come upon the Spanish
outpost, the entire regiment closed up, 'halted, and
most of the men sat down. We then, some minutes

Appendix D 307

after the first word had been received, and before
any firing had begun, received instructions to de-
ploy. I had my right wing partially deployed be-
fore the first shots between the outposts took place.
Within less than three minutes I had G Troop, with
Llewellen, Greenway, and Leahy, and one platoon
of K Troop under Kane, on the firing-line, and it
was not until after we reached the firing-line that
the heavy volley-firing from the Spaniards began.

On page 94 Mr. Bonsai says : "A vexatious delay
occurred before the two independent columns could
communicate and advance with concerted action.
. . . When the two columns were brought into
communication it was immediately decided to make
a general attack upon the Spanish position. . . .
With this purpose in view, the following disposi-
tion of the troops was made before the advance of
the brigade all along the line was ordered/' There
was no communication between the two columns
prior to the general attack, nor was any order issued
for the advance of the brigade all along the line.
The attacks were made wholly independently, and the
first communication between the columns was when
the right wing of the Rough Riders in the course
of their advance by their firing dislodged the Span-
iards from the hill across the ravine to the right,
and then saw the regulars come up that hill.

Mr. Bonsai's account of what occurred among
the regulars parallels his account of what occurred
among the Rough Riders. He states that the

308 The Rough Riders

squadron of the Tenth Cavalry delivered the main
attack upon the hill, which was the strongest point
of the Spanish position ; and he says of the troopers
of the Tenth Cavalry that "their better training
enabled them to render more valuable service than
the other troops engaged." In reality, the Tenth
Cavalrymen were deployed in support of the First,
though they mingled with them in the assault
proper; and so far as there was any difference
at all in the amount of work done, it was in fa-
vor of the First. The statement that the Tenth
Cavalry was better trained than the First, and
rendered more valuable service, has not the slight-
est basis whatsoever of any kind, sort, or de-
scription, in fact. The Tenth Cavalry did well
what it was required to do; as an organization, in
this fight, it was rather less heavily engaged, and
suffered less loss, actually and relatively, than
either the First Cavalry or the Rough Riders. It
took about the same part that was taken by the left
wing of the Rough Riders, which wing was simi-
larly rather less heavily engaged than the right and
centre of the regiment. Of course, this is a reflec-
tion neither on the Tenth Cavalry nor on the left
wing of the Rough Riders. Each body simply did
what it was ordered to do, and did it well: But
to claim that the Tenth Cavalry did better than the
First, or bore the most prominent part in the fight,
is like making the same claim for the left wing of
the Rough Riders. All the troops engaged did

Appendix D 309

well, and all alike are entitled to share in the honor
of the day.

Mr. Bonsai out-Spaniards the Spaniards them-
selves as regards both their numbers and their loss.
These points are discussed elsewhere. He develops
for the Spanish side, to account for their retreat,
a wholly new explanation — viz., that they retreated
because they saw reinforcements arriving for the
Americans. The Spaniards themselves make no
such claim. Lieutenant Tejeiro asserts that they
retreated because news had come of an (wholly
mythical) American advance on Morro Castle.
The Spanish official report simply says that the
Americans were repulsed; which is about as ac-
curate a statement as the other two. All three ex-
planations, those by General Rubin, by Lieutenant
Tejeiro, and by Mr. Bonsai alike, are precisely on
a par with the first Spanish official report of the
battle of Manila Bay, in which Admiral Dewey was
described as having been repulsed and forced to
retire.

There are one or two minor mistakes made by
Mr. Bonsai. He states that on the roster of the
officers of the Rough Riders there were ten West
Pointers. There were three, one of whom resigned.
Only two were in the fighting. He also states
that after Las Guasimas Brigadier-General Young
was made a Major-General and Colonel Wood a
Brigadier-General, while the commanding officers
of the First and Tenth Cavalry were ignored in this

jio The Rough Riders

"shower of promotions." In the first place, the
commanding officers of the First and Tenth Cav-
alry were not in the fight — only one squadron of
each having been present. In the next place, there
was no "shower of promotions" at all. Nobody
was promoted except General Young, save to fill
the vacancies caused by death or by the promotion
of General Young. Wood was not promoted be-
cause of this fight. General Young most deservedly
was promoted. Soon after the fight he fell sick.
The command of the brigade then fell upon Wood,
simply because he had higher rank than the other
two regimental commanders of the brigade; and I
then took command of the regiment exactly as
Lieutenant-Colonels Viele and Baldwin had already
taken command of the First and Tenth Cavalry
when their superior officers were put in charge of
brigades. After the San Juan fighting, in which
Wood commanded a brigade, he was made a Brig-
adier-General and I was then promoted to the nom-
inal command of the regiment, which I was already
commanding in reality.

Mr. Bonsai's claim of superior efficiency for the
colored regular regiments as compared with the
white regular regiments does not merit discussion.
He asserts that General Wheeler brought on the
Guasimas fight in defiance of orders. Lieutenant
Miley, in his book, "In Cuba with Shatter," ofi page
83, shows that General Wheeler made his fight be-
fore receiving the order which it is claimed he dis-

Appendix D 311

obeyed. General Wheeler was in command ashore;
he was told to get in touch with the enemy, and, be-
ing a man with the "fighting edge," this meant that
he was certain to fight. No general who was worth
his salt would have failed to fight under such condi-
tions ; the only question would be as to how the fight
was to be made. War means fighting; and the sol-
dier's cardinal sin is timidity.

General Wheeler remained throughout steadfast
against any retreat from before Santiago. But the
merit of keeping the army before Santiago, without
withdrawal, until the city fell, belongs to the au-
thorities at Washington, who at this all-important
stage of the operations showed to marked advantage
in overruling the proposals made by the highest
generals in the field looking toward partial retreat
or toward the abandonment of the effort to take the
city.

The following note, written by Sergeant E. G.
Norton, of B Troop, refers to the death of his broth-
er, Oliver B. Norton, one of the most gallant and
soldierly men in the regiment :

On July ist I, together with Sergeant Campbell
and Troopers Bardshar and Dudley Dean and my
brother who was killed and some others, was at
the front of the column right behind you. We
moved forward, following you as you rode, to
where we came upon the troopers of the Ninth
Cavalry and a part of the First lying down. I
heard the conversation between you and one or two

312 The Rough Riders

of the officers of the Ninth Cavalry. You ordered
a charge, and the regular officers answered that they
had no orders to move ahead ; whereupon you said :
"Then let us through," and marched forward
through the lines, our regiment following. The
men of the Ninth and First Cavalry then jumped
up and came forward with us. Then you waved
your hat and gave the command to charge and we
went up the hill. On the top of Kettle Hill my
brother, Oliver B. Norton, was shot through the
head and in the right wrist. It was just as you
started to lead the charge on the San Juan hills
ahead of us; we saw that the regiment did not
know you had gone and were not following, and
my brother said, "For God's sake follow the Col-
onel/' and as he rose the bullet went through his
head.

In reference to Mr. Bonsai's account of the Guasi-
mas fight, Mr. Richard Harding Davis writes me as
follows :

We had already halted several times to give the
men a chance to rest, and when we halted for the
last time I thought it was for this same purpose,
and began taking photographs of the men of L
Troop, who were so near that they asked me to
be sure and save them a photograph. Wood had
twice disappeared down the trail beyond them and
returned. As he came back for the second time I
remember that you walked up to him (we were
all dismounted then), and saluted and said^ "Colo-
nel, Doctor La Motte reports that the pace is too

Appendix D 3r3

fast for the men, and that over fifty have fallen out
from exhaustion." Wood replied sharply: "I have
no time to bother with sick men now." You re-
plied, more in answer, I suppose, to his tone than
to his words : "I merely repeated what the surgeon
reported to me." Wood then turned and said in
explanation: "I have no time for them now; I
mean that we are in sight of the enemy."

This was the only information we received that
the men of L Troop had been ambushed by the
Spaniards, and, if they were, they were very calm
about it, and I certainly was taking photographs
of them at the time, and the rest of the regiment,
instead of being half an hour's march away, was
seated comfortably along the trail not twenty feet
distant from the men of L Troop. You deployed
G Troop under Captain Llewellen into the jungle
at the right and sent K Troop after it, and Wood
ordered Troops E and F into the field on our left.
It must have been from ten to fifteen minutes after
Capron and Wood had located the Spaniards be-
fore either side fired a shot. When the firing did
come I went over to you and joined G Troop and
a detachment of K Troop under Woodbury Kane,
and we located more of the enemy on a ridge.

If it is to be ambushed when you find the enemy
exactly where you went to find him, and your
scouts see him soon enough to give you sufficient
time to spread five troops in skirmish order to at-
tack him, and you then drive him back out of
three positions for a mile and a half, then most
certainly, as Bonsai says, "L Troop of the Rough

VOL. XL— N

314 The Rough Riders

Riders was ambushed by the Spaniards on the morn-
ing of June 24th."

General Wood also writes me at length about
Mr. Bonsai's book, stating that his account of the
Guasimas fight is without foundation in fact. He
says : "We had five troops completely deployed be-
fore the first shot was fired. Captain Capron was
not wounded until the fight had been going on fully
thirty-five minutes. The statement that Captain
Capron's troop was ambushed is absolutely untrue.
We had been informed, as you know, by Castillo's
people that we should find the dead guerilla a few
hundred yards on the Siboney side of the Spanish
lines."

He then alludes to the waving of the guidon by
K Troop as "the only means of communication with
the regulars." He mentions that his orders did
not come from General Wheeler, and that he had no
instructions from General Wheeler directly or in-
directly at any time previous to the fight.

General Wood does not think that I give quite
enough credit to the Rough Riders as compared to
the regulars in this Guasimas fight, and believes
that I greatly underestimate the Spanish force and
loss, and that Lieutenant Tejeiro is not to be trusted
at all on these points. He states that we began the
fight ten minutes before the regulars, and that the
main attack was made and decided by us. This was
the view that I and all the rest of us in the regiment

Appendix D 315

took at the time; but as I had found since that the
members of the First and Tenth Regular Regiments
held with equal sincerity the view that the main part
was taken by their own commands, I have come to
the conclusion that the way I have described the
action is substantially correct. Owing to the fact
that the Tenth Cavalry, which was originally in sup-
port, moved forward until it got mixed with the
First, it is very difficult to get the exact relative
position of the different troops of the First and
Tenth in making the advance. Beck and Galbraith
were on the left; apparently Wainwright was
furthest over on the right. General Wood states
that Leonardo Ros, the Civil Governor of Santiago
at the time of the surrender, told him that the
Spanish force at Guasimas consisted of not less than
2,600 men, and that there were nearly 300 of them
killed and wounded. I do not myself see how it
was possible for us, as we were the attacking party
and were advancing against superior numbers well
sheltered, to inflict five times as much damage as we
received ; but as we buried eleven dead Spaniards,
and as they carried off some of their dead, I be-
lieve the loss to have been very much heavier than
Lieutenant Tejeiro reports.

General Wood believes that in following Lieuten-
ant Tejeiro I have greatly underestimated the num-
ber of Spanish troops who were defending Santiago
on July ist, and here I think he completely makes
out his case, he taking the view that Lieutenant

316 The Rough Riders

Tejeiro's statements were made for the purpose of
saving Spanish honor. On this point his letter runs
as follows :

A word in regard to the number of troops in
Santiago. I have had, during my long association
here, a good many opportunities to get information
which you have not received and probably never will
receive; that is, information from parties who were
actually in the fight, who are now residents of
the city, also information which came to me as
commanding officer of the city directly after the
surrender.

To sum up briefly as follows: The Spanish sur-
rendered in Santiago 12,000 men. We shipped
from Santiago something over 14,000 men. The
2,000 additional were troops that came in from
San Luis, Songo, and small up-country posts. The
12,000 in the city, minus the force of General Is-
cario, 3,300 infantry and 680 cavalry, or in round
numbers 4,000 men (who entered the city just
after the battles of San Juan and El Caney), leaves
8,000 regulars, plus the dead, plus Cervera's ma-
rines and blue- jackets, which he himself admits
landing, in the neighborhood of 1,200 (and reports
here are that he landed 1,380), and plus the Span-
ish Volunteer Battalion, which was between 800
and 900 men (this statement I have from the lieu-
tenant-colonel of this very battalion), gives us in
round numbers, present for duty on the morning
of July ist, not less than 10,500 men. These men
were distributed 890 at Caney, two companies of

Appendix D 317

artillery at Morro, one at Socapa, and half a com-
pany at Puenta Gorda; in all, not over 500 or 600
men, but for the sake of argument we can say a
thousand. In round numbers then we had imme-
diately about the city 8,500 troops. These were
scattered from the cemetery around to Aguadores.
In front of us, actually in the trenches, there could
not by any possible method of figuring have been
less than 6,000 men. You can twist it any way
you want to; the figures I have given you are ab-
solutely correct, at least they are absolutely on the
side of safety.

It is difficult for me to withstand the temptation
to tell what has befallen some of my men since the
regiment disbanded; how McGinty, after spending
some weeks in Roosevelt Hospital in New York
with an attack of fever, determined to call upon his
captain, Woodbury Kane, when he got out, and pro-
curing a horse rode until he found Kane's house,
when he hitched the horse to a lamp-post and strolled
in; how Cherokee Bill married a wife in Hoboken,
and as that pleasant city ultimately proved an un-
congenial field for his activities, how I had to send
both himself and his wife out to the Territory ; how
Happy Jack, haunted by visions of the social meth-
ods obtaining in the best saloons of Arizona, ap-
plied for the position of "bouncer out" at the Execu-
tive Chamber when I was elected Governor, and how
I got him a job at railroading instead, and finally
had to ship him back to his own Territory also ; how

318 The Rough Riders

a valued friend from a cow ranch in the remote West
accepted a pressing invitation to spend a few days
at the home of another ex-trooper, a New Yorker
of fastidious instincts, and arrived with an umbrella
as his only baggage ; how poor Holderman and Pol-
lock both died and were buried with military hon-
ors, all of Pollock's tribesmen coming to the burial ;
how Tom Isbell joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show, and how, on the other hand, George Rowland
scornfully refused to remain in the East at all, writ-
ing to a gallant young New Yorker who had been
his bunkie: "Well, old boy, I am glad I didn't go
home with you for them people to look at, because
I aint a Buffalo or a rhinoceros or a giraffe, and I
dont like to be Stared at, and you know we didnt do
no hard fighting down there. I have been in closer
places than that right here in Yunited States, that
is Better men to fight than them dam Spaniards."
In another letter Rowland tells of the fate of Tom
Darnell, the rider, he who rode the sorrel horse of
the Third Cavalry : 'There aint much news to write
of except poor old Tom Darnell got killed about a
month ago. Tom and another fellow had a fight and
he shot Tom through the heart and Tom was dead
when he hit the floor. Tom was sure a good old
boy, and I sure hated to hear of him going, and he
had plenty of grit too. No man ever called on him
for a fight that he didn't get it."

My men were children of the dragon's blood, and
if they had no outland foe to fight and no outlet for

Appendix D 319

their vigorous and daring energy, there was always
the chance of their fighting one another: but the
great majority, if given the chance to do hard or
dangerous work, availed themselves of it with the
utmost eagerness, and though fever sickened and
weakened them so that many died from it during the
few months following their return, yet, as a whole,
they are now doing fairly well. A few have shot
other men or been shot themselves; a few ran for
office and got elected, like Llewellen and Luna in
New Mexico, or defeated, like Brodie and Wilcox
in Arizona ; some have been trying hard to get to the
Philippines ; some have returned to college, or to the
law, or the factory, or the counting-room; most of
them have gone back to the mine, the ranch, and
the hunting camp; and the great majority have
taken up the threads of their lives where they
dropped them when the Maine was blown up and the
country called to arms.

END OP VOLUME ELEVEN